Second Chances
by Elizabeth Robbins
Summary: AU Jubilee is home from college and back on the team. Wolvie finally notices she's grown up but can't bring himself to take the next step. The team takes things into their own hands. Rated for language and mature situations COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Second chances

A/N: This is kind of an unusual story. The end of it will surprise you. It's not entirely what you think.

Disclaimers: I don't own the X-Men and am not making any money from their use.

Feedback: I love getting feedback. I have no life to speak of so I need all the hugs I can get.

Chapter 1: Death and Life

Logan was floating. He couldn't feel his body and he was in total darkness. The only thing that kept him from panicking was that he could hear and smell so he knew that he wasn't in a sensory deprivation tank. It felt almost as if he were dreaming. He wanted to tell the kids to shut up so he could get some sleep but, for some reason, he couldn't open hes mouth.

The sounds were a roar in his sensitive ears. He couldn't make out what everyone was saying. The beeping of monitors filled his ears, sounding like the gong of a large clock heard too close. Why didn't it hurt, he wondered. Noise this close and loud usually gave him a ringing headache. The scents were a muddle of people he knew and the Med Lab. The one scent he could make out was blood; his own and Jubilee's.

He struggled against the darkness. Jubilee was hurt. He needed to be there and protect her. She just came back to the X-Mensix months ago. She still needed him to keep her out of trouble. Wake up, stupid, he told himself. You can't sleep while Jubilee's in pain.

"Wolvie!" he heard Jubilee scream. He struggled harder. Somewhere, a monitor faltered, the rhythm irregular. Jubes was dying! He had to wake up!

"Wolvie, No!" she cried. He could smell tears. Come on, come on, wake up! He was beginning to panic.

BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeP

"Don't leave me!" someone screamed. He struggled harder, trying to break through. Why couldn't he wake up?

White light blossomed before his eyes. He felt the pull of ...something. What it was, he couldn't name. He wanted the light more than he could explain but the pull from the opposite direction was intense. He wanted desperately to investigate the the shining light. It felt so warm and inviting, like a blanket on a cold winter night. He reached out to touch it but it seemed to shrink away from him. No ...it wasn't shrinking... he was being pulled away from it! He stretched out, trying to reach the light. It grew smaller and smaller. It shrank to a pinpoint and winked out. He roared in frustration.

The moment the light disappeared, pain blossomed in his chest making him moan in agony. His eyes flew open. Everything was blurred except the door of the Med Lab. Standing just inside the door was a woman. Tall with long, wavy brown hair, she wasn't beautiful but she had an inner glow that couldn't be faked. Fresh pain lanced through him and he closed his eyes, hissing. When he opened them, the woman was gone.

"Logan," he heard someone gasp. He focused and found Jean leaning over him, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, thank God! We thought you were going to die."

"Where is she?" he asked in a low, pain filled whisper.

"Jubilee?" she asked. "She's in the bed next to you." She stepped aside to allow Hank to look at his wounds.

"Other one," he gasped as Hank probed the holes in his chest. "By the door."

Confused faces greeted his question. "There was no one by the door," Hank told him.

The memory was fading quickly. He couldn't remember what she looked like except that she had brown hair. After a moment, that was gone as well. The only thing he remembered was that he saw someone at the door when he opened his eyes. Someone that didn't belong. His thoughts shifted to his partner.

"Jubes?" he asked, pain rising again.

"She has shrapnel in her leg and a fractured collar bone but she will be fine," Hank assured him. "I will need to operate and remove the bits of metal as soon as you are stable."

"I'll be fine," he told him. "Do what ya need ta fer Jubilee." Hank nodded and turned away.

Logan reached out and grabbed Hanks wrist in a surprisingly strong grasp. Hank turned back, a question in his eyes. "Don't let her die," Logan begged. "I won't survive if she dies." Hank looked in his eyes and nodded. Logan released him and slumped back of the bed.

"Logan?" Cyclops stepped up to the bed.

"I'll be okay," he reassured his leader. "What happened, Cyke?"

"A riot in Albany," he told his teammate. "We had gotten control of the situation when some yahoo came up with a rocket launcher. He was aiming at Jubilee for some reason. You threw her up in the air and dodged the rocket but it hit a dumpster behind you. The shrapnel from the rocket and the dumpster flew everywhere. Ten people were injured but you took the brunt of the explosion. It happened too fast for Jean to shield you. She barely was able to shield herself.

"You had twenty-seven holes in you chest, thirteen went through your heart, the rest through your lungs and back. Your left kidney was destroyed and you had huge holes in your intestines. You flat lined on us twice. Shit, Logan, I thought you were going to die this time. I don't think I've ever seen you hurt so bad."

"I died?" Logan gasped as a new wave of pain washed over him. "Does that mean I get some time off?"

"Don't push it," Scott said with a lopsided smile. "You're going to have to help Jubilee during her recovery."

"Scott, Hank likes to sugar coat things. I know you'll tell me the truth. How bad is she injured?"

"It's pretty bad," he sighed as he sat in the chair beside the bed. "She took several large pieces of metal in her leg. Her femoral artery was ripped up in a couple of places. If Hank can't rebuild it, she will loose her leg."

"Oh God," Logan whispered. "Ya can't let that happen, Cyke. It'll kill her."

"I know," he said, looking at his hands. "I have Rogue looking for Worthington. He may be able to help her."

"I'll give her the blood," Logan told him desperately.

"You don't have any to spare," Scott protested.

"I don't give a shit," he growled. "She can't die!"

Scott's expression bloomed with dawning comprehension. "You love her," he whispered.

"Of course I love her. I raised her."

"No, Logan," he clarified himself. "You're in love with her. There's a difference."

"I..." he stopped, thinking.

"I've never lied to you, Wolverine," Scott told him. "And you've never lied to me about anything important. Don't start lying to yourself."

His communicator chirped for attention. He listened intently to the voice in his ear. "Rogue found him," he told Logan. "They're on their way back. They should be here in just under an hour. I'm going to let you rest. As soon as they get here, I'll send Warren down." He got up and started for the door.

"Cyke," Logan stopped him. "Thanks fer telling me the truth."

"Think about what I said," he instructed. "This kind of a chance doesn't come around all that often." Logan closed his eyes and nodded.

He must have passed out after that. The next time he opened his eyes, Worthington was sitting in a chair beside Jubilee's bed, his head in his hands. He looked very pale. Hank was standing beside his bed looking expectant.

"Welcome back, my feral friend," he said cheerfully.

"How long?" he rasped, his throat dry.

"Thirty-one hours," Hank told him as he held a cup of water to his lips. Logan took large, thirsty gulps and nodded his thanks.

"How's Jubes?" the pain in his chest diminishing quickly.

"Much improved," Hank told him. He began to remove the IV lines and monitor leads. "I wasn't sure Warren's blood would help after so much time but it seemed to do the trick. Her artery has repaired itself and the fractures have completely healed. She should be up and in trouble in a few days. Now, if I could get Warren to go to bed, everything would be precisely as I want them."

"I'll help ya," he said sitting up. He gasped as pain lanced from his shoulder across his chest to his hip.

"You're not ready to do any heavy lifting," Beast warned him. "Go to your room and rest. I'll put our doner to bed down here. I would like to keep an eye on him for a few hours."

He walked around the bed and lifted the tall mutant into his strong arms. Warren woke with a start and began to struggle.

"Logan is awake," Hank told him. "We will watch Jubilee while you sleep." He took the protesting man over to a bed on the other side of the room and placed him gently down. "Stay here. If you get up, I'll give you a taste of the sedative I've developed for Wolverine." Warren gulped and nodded. He knew his healing factor wasn't as effective as Logan's. Anything developed for Wolverine would keep him out for several days. Beast smiled in satisfaction and returned to Jubilee.

"Ya really have somethin' that can put me out?" Logan asked in a low voice.

"No," Hank replied in the same voice. "But he doesn't know that."

"Wolvie?" Jubilee's weak voice called him. He turned and sat in the chair beside her bed and took her hand in his.

"I'm here darlin'," he told her.

"My leg aches," she complained.

"I can take care of that," Hank said as he opened a drawer next to the bed.

"What happened?" she asked. "Last thing I saw was the fire escape coming up on me.

"Rocket launcher," Logan told her. "I threw ya up in the air ta get ya out of the way. I didn't get ya far enough away and ya got some shrapnel in yer leg." She paled and flipped the sheet off of her. Dressings covered the healing wounds but her leg was intact. "Bird-Boy gave ya some blood."

"Was it that bad?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Yer artery was damaged. Hank thought ya might loose yer leg."

"This will take care of the pain," Hank said as he injected a syringe of clear fluid into her IV line.

It took about two minutes but the pain in her leg began to fade. "Bless you Hank," she sighed in relief. "Keep me comfortable and I'll have your children." Logan began to growl.

"I think Wolverine might have something to say about that," Hank laughed as he walked away.

Jubilee watched the play of emotions over Logan's face. "Wolvie?" she drew his attention. "What's wrong?"

"Ya scared me ta death," he told her. "I thought ya were going ta die on me." He pulled the sheet back over her and added a blanket to keep her warm. "I almost lost ya, Jubes."

"I'm not gonna die on ya Wolvie," she said, her eyes drooping. "I haven't given ya gray hair yet." She gave a huge yawn. "I gotta sleep." Her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Within seconds, she was in a deep sleep.

He stayed by her bed for several hours, his chest still aching. Jean stopped in to check on them and to bring him dinner. He picked at his food without eating much. His appetite seemed to elude him. He usually ate very well after an injury. He needed the protein to rebuild the damaged tissues and organs, but for some reason, he couldn't eat now.

He remained so lost in thought that he didn't notice Hank's approach until he felt the hairy paw land on his shoulder.

"Logan, are you all right?" Hank asked concerned. "I've been calling you for several seconds."

"Hum?" Logan asked. He looked down and saw that he was rubbing his chest in small circles, trying to ease the deep ache. "Oh. Just a little left over aching. It'll be gone tomorrow."

"It's been almost forty-eight hours Logan," Hank was concerned. "Shouldn't the pain be gone by now?"

"I've never had ta regrow my heart before," he grinned. "Ya gotta give me a little more time."

"Maybe," Hank mused.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and change," Logan told him as he got up. "Can ya keep an eye on Jubilee while I'm gone?"

Hank gave him a look that said 'Like I'd ever ignore a patient'. Logan had the grace to look chagrined as he turned and strode out of the Med Lab.

He stood under the hot spray for what seemed like hours, soaking the aches out of his body and thinking about the fight. For the first time in a long time, he couldn't remember the details of the battle. He could recall being summoned to the War Room for the briefing and going off in the Blackbird but from landing on, all he remembered were flashes. The only clear recollection of the battle he had was the moment he saw the rocket pointed at Jubilee. Before that were snippets of the action. After that, nothing. Cyke had told him that he threw Jubilee up into the air, trying to get her clear but he couldn't remember it. He didn't remember dodging to avoid the missal and he most defiantly didn't remember the explosion. And why the hell did his chest still hurt?

He turned the water off with a twist of his wrist and pushed open the show door. Grabbing a towel, he dried himself off quickly and wrapped the damp cloth around his waist. He used his forearm to clear the accumulated steam from the mirror and looked at he chest.

The wounds were completely healed. Not even a fine scar remained, not that he expected one. His skin was usually the last thing that healed. The main priority for his healing factor was his heart, lungs and brain. His body would delay healing everything else until the three main organs were completely healed. In this injury, he would have healed his heart and lung first. Then his intestines and other injured abdominal organs. His skin and kidney would be last. The fact that he had healed the skin told him that his heart and lung were fully healed. So why did he still have the pain in his chest? Maybe he should talk to Hank.

Knock, knock.

He came out of the bathroom and looked at the clock. Twelve-thirty six. Who the hell would be banging on his door at this hour?

The knock came again, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Wolverine," Gambit called through the door.

"Whatcha want, Gumbo?" Logan asked as he opened the door.

A beer was thrust into his hand by the tall, red eyed mutant as he pushed his way inside. "Came ta ask how you're doin' and how the petite's doin'," Remy said as he flopped down on the bed. "Looks like you're doin' fine."

"Jubilee is gonna be fine," he said. "Thanks fer the beer, now get out."

"Temper, Wolverine," Remy smiled. "Ya know, the petite getting hurt like this made Gambit t'ink. She's all grown up now. She's an X-Man and getting hurt is part of the job but seein' her in so much pain, it hurt Gambit too. I don' know if I 'd survive if she'd died. Gambit got ta t'inkin', she's young and beautiful. Maybe she want someone ta love before she dies. Maybe she needs ol' Gambit ta show her..."

Gambit suddenly found himself hauled off the bed and pinned to the wall by two adamantium claws on either side of his neck, the third pressing into his throat, Wolverine's angry face very close to his.

"Stay away from her," Wolverine growled through clenched teeth. "She's not fer you."

Gambit reached up and touched a claw with one finger and it began to glow pink with restrained energy. "Put me down and retract your claws," he warned.

It was a stand off. Logan knew he couldn't kill the bastard. Jubilee liked the lusty Cajun and she'd never forgive him if he gutted him. He relaxed his grip and let the tall mutant drop to the floor. Remy drew the charge back and the glow faded.

"You want her for yourself," Remy observed.

"I never said that," Logan told him. "I know she don't need you."

"Gambit think ya do want the petite," He smirked. "She's beautiful, non? So beautiful that men notice her now. Soon, she want bebes. If ya wait, she'll pick someone else ta give her those bebes."

Logan paled and sat down, hard, on the bed. "She's just a kid herself," he protested. "She can't be havin' babies yet." The thought of Jubilee having children by anyone was appalling.

"She's twenty-three," Gambit told him. "Lotta girls have bebes by now. The petite'll make a good mama, don't ya t'ink?"

Logan nodded, still in shock. When did Jubilee grow up and how could he have missed it?

"Get some sleep Logan. Ya look like shit." He opened the door and turned back to look at his stunned friend. "Ya don't want ta scare her off by lookin' like ya died two weeks ago and forgot ta fall down" He left, closing the door behind him with a click.

Gambit headed to the kitchen to get another beer. Scott and Jean were already there when he arrived.

"Well?" Scott asked. "What happened.?"

"Gambit gave him a few t'ings ta t'ink about," Remy told him, satisfied with his talk with Wolverine.

"What did you say?" Jean asked anxiously.

"Played the baby card," said Gambit.

"You didn't!" Jean squealed. "That's mean."

"Putting them back together as partners didn't work Jean," Scott sighed. "Maybe he needs to change his focus to her sex life."

"Petites' biological clock is ticking away," Remy told her taking a long drink from his beer. "He don' do something ta reset the alarm, she'll find someone who will."

"Will she?" Jean asked. "She's loved Logan for years."

"She's a beautiful and vivacious woman," Scott observed. "Any man would be lucky to get her but I want them both to be happy. I think she would love her own choice but Logan ..."

"Wolverine will only be happy with her," Jean completed.

"Wolverine chases away every date she has," Gambit said. "She don' have a chance of finding a man as long as he loves her."

"We know he's not about to fall out of love with her and she's been in love with him since she was sixteen so our only option is to overcome his misplaced chivalry and get them together." said Jean.

"For the sake of all of us," Gambit moaned.

"This last six months have been hell," Scott mentioned. "I won't last another six months."


	2. Chapter 2

Second Chances

Chapter 2

Logan had a hard time sleeping that night. He had tried to return to the Med Lab but was waylaid by Rogue who said she had orders from Beast to keep him out until morning. He took it as well as expected. The Logan sized dent in the wall outside the Med Lab was testament to that He quit trying after Scott threatened to confine him to the Danger Room without program access for a week.

His mind kept going over what Cyke and Gumbo had said to him. Scott was the first one to claim he loved Jubilee. His comment got Logan thinking. He'd known her since Australia when she pulled him off of a cross. She was thirteen at the time. That was ten years ago. They'd been looking after each other off and on since then. He even ran five miles across the desert in New Mexico after he caught a whiff of her blood when the wind shifted. She was the only one of his teammates he trusted completely. She was the most like him. And the most unlike him.

He knew she was still a virgin. That wasn't something she could hide from his sensitive nose. He wasn't sure why she didn't take advantage of one of the boys she met at college. He had left her alone during her years in school in Boston thinking she'd find a nice guy and settle down. She'd gone out with a lot of guys while she was in school but every time she brought one home, he reacted very badly but that shouldn't have stopped her from sleeping with a guy if she really wanted him.

She was twenty-three now. Ready to be a wife and mother. He felt his heart contract at the idea. The thought of her making love to her last boyfriend popped into his head. He growled, threateningly. It had taken him a month of subtle and not so subtle threats to make him go away. Jubilee had been furious at him but he couldn't take the idea of her sleeping with him.

"She's mine, dammit," he growled. His eyes widened in surprise as he heard his own words. "Oh God," he moaned. "I do love her."

What was he going to do? When he marked her as his, Creed would be after her full time. The last time he cared enough to mark a woman, Creed had found her and viscously raped and murdered her. If that happened to Jubilee, he would never forgive himself.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't put her in jeopardy. He opened his closet and began to dig through it. I know it's here, he thought. I used it three months ago when I went to Canada . He started tossing clothes over his head, searching.

"You're running," Jeans voice came from the door.

"I hafta go," he said tugging his travel bag out from under the pile of laundry on the floor of the closet.

"Why?" she demanded. "Because you finally figured out that you love Jubilee?"

"Why does everyone think they need ta get in my business?" he growled at her.

"You and Jubilee have been growling or shouting at each other for the past six months," she said exasperated. "You drove off her last boyfriend with a variety of threats. For Gods sake Logan, tell the girl you love her. We can't take it anymore."

He flopped down onto his bed, defeated. "If Jubes and I get together, Creed will know and he'll try harder ta kill her. Jean, I can't stand the thought of her fallin' inta Creed's hands. I hafta leave so she''ll be safe."

"Bull shit!" she exploded. His head popped up in surprise. Jean ...cursing? She must be thoroughly pissed off at him. "You run away from her this time and I will flush your brain. You won't even be able to pee on your own."

"Shit Jeannie," he whispered.

"You know I can do it and don't think I won't. This team has had enough of the crap you two have put us through.

"Yes, Sabertooth is after Jubilee but if you leave, you make it that much easier for him to get to her. Ask her," she dared him. "Ask her if she would feel better with the dubious safety of you gone or the love and security of you here."

"I can't," he whispered. Her eyes narrowed in anger.

"You fucking coward!" she hissed. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Her temper remained high until she got to the kitchen where her husband, Rogue and Remy waited.

"Well?" Rogue asked. "What happened?"

"I lost my temper and called him a coward," she admitted as she curled her form against her husband. "Actually, I called him a fucking coward," she said in a small voice.

Scott and Rogue gasped. "You didn't!" Rogue gaped.

"That may work," Remy said thoughtfully.

"How do you figure that?" Scott asked.

"Jean never curses," Gambit explained. "Hearing her curse may be enough ta make him do somethin'."

"A verbal knock up side his head," Rogue said thinking hard. "It may be enough."

"What was he doing when you got to his room?" Scott asked her.

"Searching for his bag," she told them. "He's going to run again. I told him I'd flush his brain if he did. I'm not sure he believed me."

"What's the homme doing now?" Remy asked.

Jean concentrated briefly. "Sitting on his bed, thinking."

"Do we have time to disable the vehicles?" Scott asked.

"Logan can be packed and gone in ten minutes," Rogue said.

"Dammit," Scott swore. "Not enough time. What are we going to do?"

"Hope he does the right t'ing," said Remy.

"No," Rogue told them. "We need ta get him involved in her recovery. Make sure she becomes dependent on him and him on her. No one is ta help, especially 'Ro."

"How are we going to get Storm to stand down?" asked Jean. "She refuses to help us get them together."

"Have you talked to her?" Scott asked her.

"Repeatedly," Jean sighed. "She thinks Jubilee is too young. She still sees her as a teenager."

"Cyke," Rogue said, "give her a month off to go home. That'll get her out of our hair. When she gets back, it'll be a done deal."

"Good idea," he told her. "I'll talk to after breakfast. Logan still in his room?" he asked his wife. She shook her head.

"On his way to the Med Lab," she answered.

"I think it's time to let the cat out of the bag, darling," Scott said to his wife. "It'll excuse you from physical therapy."

"Jean?" Rogue asked, her eyes narrow in speculation. "Are you pregnant?" Jean nodded happily. Rogue shrieked and carefully hugged the redhead.

"Congratulations, Cyke," Remy said as he shook his leader's hand. "'Bout time."

"Thanks Remy," Scott said with a grin.

"I'm about six weeks," she told them. "We were going to wait until I was about three months but I think we need to make the announcement now, for everyones sanity."

"You wouldn't be able ta keep it secret from Logan much longer," Rogue told her. "With that sniffer of his, he's bound ta smell it as soon as he gets his head outta his ass."

"Well," Jean said shyly, "he's had other things to occupy his mind."

"No shit," Remy said under his breath.

"Ah need ta head off Logan," Rogue told them. "You'll talk ta 'Ro?" she asked Scott.

"I'll grab her right after breakfast," he told her. "She's been wanting to go home for some time but we haven't had the manpower to give her leave. I'll get a hold of Sam and ask if he can do some TDY."

The meeting broke up and the conspirators left to their assigned tasks. Rogue met Logan in the hall outside the Med Lab. He had been visiting Jubilee and gave her a quick report.

"She's feeling much better," he told her. "Still weak though. Gonna need some therapy ta get her back in shape."

"That's what Ah wanted ta talk ta ya about," Rogue said, linking her arm through his. "Yer gonna hafta take charge of her therapy."

"Why can't you or Jean do it?" he asked. "I hafta leave."

"You can't go Logan," she told him as they walked back to his room. "Ah'm no therapist. Ah might hurt the girl with my strength. Ah wouldn't know what ta do anyway."

'What about Jean?" he asked desperately.

"Jean's pregnant," she told him with a smile. His eyes widened in surprise. "After last years miscarriage, Ah don't think she's a good choice ta take charge of a hyperactive Jubilee."

"What about Storm?" He was beginning to panic.

"She's going home fer a visit," Rogue told him. "She'll be back in a month. We can't hold off on Jubilee's therapy for that long."

"Cyke?"

"Someone's gotta run the place with the professor gone." Rogue was beginning to enjoy his discomfort. This was just too good.

"Gumbo?" his voice was getting higher.

Rogue cocked an wry eyebrow at him.

"Ferget I said that," he growled. "I don't want him near her."

He thought hard. "Popcicle'll let her play and ferget ta put her through the paces."

"You're the only one left, Sugah," she smiled. "If ya don't do it, she won't get the exercise she needs ta get her strength back."

Logan knew when he was out maneuvered. She had an answer for every objection he could raise.

"Ain't ya gonna tell me I need ta tell her I love her?" he sneered. "Everyone else has."

She decided to take a different path than her cohorts. She wasn't called 'Rogue' for nothing.

"Hell no," she growled at him. "You leave that child alone. Ah see y'all sniffin' around her and ya get the back of my hand."

His head snapped back in surprise. "She ain't no kid," he protested.

"She's too young fer ya," Rogue told him. "Leave her ta Bobby. He's closer ta her age."

"Never," he growled.

"Fer God's sake Logan," she exclaimed. "She's got ta be the only twenty-three year old virgin in the county. At least let her cure that little condition!"

"With Bobby?" he yelled.

"Why the hell not?" she yelled back at him. "He's a nice guy."

"He's not fer her," he hissed.

"Then who is? And ya better not say Remy."

He stood in front of her, his arms folded across his chest and an angry expression on his face. Rogue was undaunted. She knew that Logan couldn't hurt her. The opposite wasn't true, however. Rogue could most certainly hurt him.

"Face it Sugah," she said sweetly. "Yer the only one that can get her ta do what she needs ta do." She let go of his arm and walked back down the hall to the stairs.

"What about her 'little condition'?" he asked before she got to the first step.

"Did ya ever think that maybe she wants ta give it ta ya?" she asked. "Girls are kinda funny that way. We want our first time ta be with someone we love." She slipped down the steps before he could come up with another question.

He let himself into his room and closed the door behind him with a bang. Damn you Rogue, he thought. She was just enough of the wild woman to force his thoughts to move from his heart to an area a little further south. Damn her! And damn Jubilee for staying a virgin this long. It made him hard just thinking about the possibility of being her first.

"Shit," he ground out.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a virgin. He could always smell their innocence and gave them a wide berth when ever they decided he was the one to initiate them. Most of the time, they were jail bait. Jubilee, however, was twenty-three and well beyond the legal limit.

He flopped back on the bed with a grunt. He couldn't believe he was considering this. He's known her for over ten years. Hell, he practically raised her for the first three years after she manifested. She was a child, wasn't she? Or was she. He thought back to the first time he saw her. He was hanging on a cross in Australia and she was watching him. He remembered smelling her fear as she peeked out from the underground bunker she was hiding in. Why she helped him, he never understood. She would have been safer to remain in hiding and leave the battered and broken man to his fate but she didn't. She had helped him down and hid him until he was well enough to move around. She wasn't quite thirteen at the time. Her actions had proved her maturity. Jubilee hadn't been a child since her powers manifested.

She saved his life. For some reason, she stayed with him, even though he wasn't too stable mentally at the time. Hell, he wasn't stable mentally now. It was worse then. He kept talking to Nick Fury and Carol Danvers. They weren't there at the time but he still talked to them. Jubilee took it with a grain of salt and humored him. He dragged her to Madripoor where he nearly got her killed. Then on to Japan where he got her kidnapped.

"Crap," he swore. Between the messes he got her into when she was a child and Creed's hard on for getting to him by using her, she hasn't been safe since puberty. Now he was thinking of marking her as his mate. 'Smart move, shit head,' he told himself. 'Creed'll sniff her out in no time. Sleep with her, satisfy the itch we both have and I'll sign her death warrant.' He tried out his old reasoning that he was too old for her but the argument didn't hole water anymore. Memories had been creeping back into his mind for a while now. Several months ago, a clear memory of combat in Germany during World War II popped into his head. He couldn't play the age card anymore. He was older than any other resident in the mansion. Hell, he could be old enough to be Chuck's grandfather. Age wasn't an issue anymore.

He had to admit to himself that he wanted her. Cyke was right. He couldn't lie anymore, not to himself. He loved her. He couldn't act on it. Not yet. He needed to make her tough enough to be safe from his strongest enemies first. He needed to take over her training.

He bound out of bed, suddenly very hungry. He stretched to work the kinks out of his back. As he reached the apex, pain shot across his chest. He lowered his arms, gasping. Why was this happening? The pain should be gone by now. Had he been more hurt than they were admitting? He needed to find Cyke. He'll give him the truth.

He found the Fearless Leader in the kitchen, eating a sandwich.

"Cyke," Logan said as he entered the kitchen, "was I hurt worse than Hank let on?"

"Not as far as I'm aware," he said through a mouthful of ham and bread. "You were hurt real bad but I told you what he found. Why?"

"Seem ta be healin' kinda slow this time," Logan said, absently rubbing his chest. "I still got some pain in my chest."

"Well, you did die twice. Maybe you need a few more days to recover."

"Maybe," he agreed. "I'm stayin'. I want ta teach Jubes ta protect herself from my enemies."

"Why the change of heart?"

"Yer right, I love her," He admitted. "I can't do anythin' about it until she can protect herself from the monsters that'll come after her. I don't want her ta get killed 'cause she's with me."

"I'll help you as much as I can," Scott said. "You belong together, if not for your sake, then ours."

"Huh?"

"The last six months have been hell for the rest of the team. I've been drinking antacids like you drink beer."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Just do something about it and I'll be happy."

"I'm gonna be with her all day, every day. It's gonna get worse before it gets better."

"Oh, joy," Scott moaned.


	3. Chapter 3

Second Chances

Chapter 3

Hank stopped Logan at the Med Lab door the next morning and guided him to the tiny office off the main ward.

"Before you take Jubilation out of the lab, there is something you need to know," Hank said.

"What?" Logan asked, his heart leaping into his throat.

"Her wounds are not healing as quickly as I had initially predicted. The artery is completely healed and the fractures are strong enough to support her weight but the muscles are healing at her normal rate."

"Why didn't Fly-boy's blood heal her like the last time?"

"There was nearly an eight hour delay this time," Hank explained. "It took time for us to get back to the mansion and for Rogue to locate Angel. I'm afraid that the delay cost us in healing. She will be unable to stand on the leg for long periods at first and the initial goal of physical therapy will be to stretch the muscles without tearing them."

"How long will it be before I can get her to a rigorous workout?"

"I will begin a therapy of electro stimulation and cellular regeneration today but it will be at least three weeks before she will tolerate anything more than stretching and massage. Scar tissue is very fragile at first. You must give her time to heal the soft tissues before you start a training regimen."

"Does she know?" She wasn't going to be very happy about this. Restrictions have a tendency to make her testy.

"I have attempted to explain but I am not sure she understands. You will have to prevent her from re-injuring her leg."

"Alright," Logan sighed. "I'll give her limits."

Hank watched him as he absently rubbed his chest. He seemed to be fixated on the area of the worst of his injuries from the explosion. It almost looked like he was still in pain.

"Does your chest still cause you pain?" he asked, concerned.

"Now and then," Logan admitted. "Don't worry 'bout me. I'll be fine." He left the office before Hank could ask more questions.

"Wolvie!" Jubilee greeted him enthusiastically. "Can I leave here now? I'm so hungry and by the time the food gets down here, it's cold and there's nothing grosser than cold pancakes (except maybe cold eggs) and can I please get a hot breakfast?" She gave him a pleading puppy look as she took a deep breath after her tirade.

"Good morning to ya too Jubilation," he smiled. "Yes, I feel much better today, nice of ya ta ask."

She ducked her head in chagrin. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed over her lack of manners.

"It's okay," he told her. "How's the leg?"

"Sore," she admitted. "How come? I mean, last time I needed some of Birdie's blood, I got better pretty quick."

"Hank's not sure," he told her. "He thinks it's 'cause of the time delay. Last time, he was here and gave ya the blood right away. This time it was almost eight hours. Ya didn't heal completely this time. Yer gonna hafta heal the old fashioned way and let yer body do it fer ya."

"Poo," she pouted. "How long?"

"At least six weeks for the initial healing then another four to six weeks to bring the muscle mass up to fighting strength," Hank said as he entered the med lab carrying a pair of silver crutches. "You will need to limit the amount of time on your leg for the first two weeks."

She looked at the crutches, appalled. "No way I'm usin' those ugly things," she told him.

"Your leg will not support you weight," Hank told her gently. "I know they are not in the high fashion you are used to but if you try to walk before I give you the okay, you will tear the internal sutures and I will have to operate again. You will set back your recovery at least a week."

"C'mon Jubes," Logan pleaded. "Do what Blue asks. I need my partner back healthy."

"But they're ugly," she protested. "They're silver for god's sake."

"What color ya want 'em?"

"You'd paint them for me?"

"Sure."

"Electric pink," she told him, smiling.

"Ya got it," he told her. "Let me take ya ta yer room and Jeannie can help ya get cleaned up while I'm gone ta the store."

Armed with a supply of pain killers, a bottle of antibiotics and the dreaded crutches, she slowly made her way upstairs. Logan stayed close to her knowing that her strength would give out before she made it all they way to her bed.

Her uniform had been cut off of her when she was injured so she left the med lab wearing a standard issue hospital gown. Logan was thrilled to get flashes of bare bottom as she crutched her way down the hall. Every glimpse of skin shot through him like a jolt of electricity, straight to his groin. By the time they made it to her room, they were both trembling, her with exhaustion, him with arousal. This is going to be harder than I thought, he told himself.

They stood at the end of the long hall leading to their rooms. Jubilee was leaning against the wall, shaking and pale.

"Wolvie?" she said weakly. "I'm not going to make it."

He caught her before her knees gave out. She made it farther than he had anticipated. He figured she'd collapse before they made it to the elevator. She's a whole lot stronger than he had thought. He swept her into his arms, leaving the crutches where the fell, and took her to her room. He toed open the door and made his way to the bed through the piles of dirty laundry to place her gently on the bed.

"Can I have a pain pill?" she whispered.

"Sure darlin'," he said as he pulled the bottle from his pocket and read the label. He got her a glass of water and gave her the pill. Her head fell back onto the pillow in exhaustion. "Get some sleep," he told her as he tucked her in. "I'll have Jeannie or Rogue look in on ya. I'll be in the garage paintin' yer crutches."

"Thanks Wolvie," she yawned. "Love ya."

"Love ya too," he murmured. She didn't hear him.

He began to pick up the dirty clothes and stuff them into the hamper. If she was going to stay in her room, she would need a clear floor. He didn't need her to trip on a pile of clothes and break a leg.

This was how Jean found him; cleaning Jubilee's room. She shook her head in amazement. She never thought she'd live to see the day Wolverine would pick up after a woman.

"I'll take care of that," she told him in a low voice. "You need to go and get some paint."

"I don't mind," he told her.

"I know," she smiled. "But you promised her that you'd paint the crutches."

"You reading our minds?" he asked mildly.

"Hank told me," she said. "I won't invade your privacy and Jubilee has very strong shields. Her private mind is very private."

He stuffed the last of the clothes into the hamper and looked around. Jubilee never claimed to be a housekeeper and it showed. Dust covered every surface. The floor had dust bunnies skittering across it like they were alive.

"Gonna hafta teach her how ta clean," he said shaking his head.

"She knows how to clean Logan," Jean told him, "but you have to realize, she's working full time at the library, going to grad school and on missions with the X-Men. She just doesn't have a lot of time these days. Something had to give and it appears that the housekeeping was elected."

"Shit," he swore. "I forgot about her job and school. I need ta call her professors and her boss."

"I already did," she told him. "She was scheduled for a shift and a class the day after she was hurt."

"What'd they say?"

"Her adviser said she would have to withdraw for this semester but Pinky will keep her job open until she's better."

"Pinky?"

"The librarian."

"The librarian is named Pinky?" he snorted, shaking his head. "I'm gonna go get the paint. Can you put a load of laundry in fer her?"

"Sure," she replied. "And I'll give her a bath as soon as I have some clean clothes."

"Thanks Red," he said as he left.

He didn't do what she asked. He couldn't paint the damned things pink no matter how hard he tried. He took them to his favorite motorcycle repair shop and had them paint them.

It was worth the trouble and expense when she saw them three days later. He had them painted to resemble candy canes with red and white stripes crawling up the metal.

"I love them," she cried when she saw them. "But now I'm hungry for peppermints."

He had anticipated her reaction and pulled out a bag of Starlight mints.

"Oh," she squealed. "You're the best!" She flung an arm around his neck and kissed him on the lips. She pulled back, surprised at herself. "I'm sorry," she stammered. She didn't get the chance to continue her apology.

His mouth descended, reclaiming hers in a searing kiss that curled her toes. She froze in shock for about a half a second before allowing herself be swept away by his desire. She felt his hands grab her bottom and pull her toward him. She moaned as his heated bulge connected with her belly. Her crutches fell unnoticed to the ground as she wound her arms around his neck, trying to deepen the touch. She lifted herself higher in his arms, grinding her hips against his, frustrated by the clothing separating her from what she wanted.

"Wolvie!" she gasped as his mouth trailed to her neck, sucking and licking.

"Jubes," he moaned and pulled his mouth away from her skin. His eyes were dilated with desire and something more.

"Wolvie?" she asked, confused.

He swallowed hard and let her body slide down his, setting her on her feet. "Time fer yer therapy," he growled.

"Huh?" she asked stupidly. What the hell just happened?

"Therapy," he repeated. "Hank wants ya in the lab." He made sure she was steady on her feet then bent over and picked up her crutches. He gently slipped them under her arms and kissed her forehead. "I'll come ta get ya in an hour," he said as he walked away.

She watched his retreating figure in opened mouthed astonishment. 'Okay,' she thought. 'That was stranger than usual.' She turned and crutched her way to the lower levels, her body still on fire. Every step sent jolts of electricity through her veins, her clothes rubbing her in a way that kept the fire stoked. 'Damn him,' she thought.

She groaned to herself when she saw Hank set up the electro stim machine. He alternated electro stim with cell regeneration. On the days she had electro stim, Logan massaged her leg to increase the circulation to the wounds. His massages had been clinical so far. She doubted that they would remain that way. Now, his touch would be torture. She didn't think it would be his intention to torture her but it would turn out that way.

She stripped to her panties and climbed on the bed. Hank raised an eyebrow at her as he attached the electrodes. Jubilee wondered at that until she remembered that Hank was a feral and could probably smell her arousal. She groaned in embarrassment.

"Are you in pain, Jubilation?" he asked, a smile playing around his lips.

"Shut up and hook me up," she ordered through clenched teeth.

An hour later, Logan showed up in the med lab to escort her to the gym. She was able to calm herself enough to fall asleep during the treatment and was a little groggy as she crutched after him.

"Slow up Wolvie," she called. "My shoulder's giving me trouble today." The ache had started that morning and was only increasing as the day went on. Now, it was throbbing in time with her heart.

He stopped and turned to her in surprise. The bone should have been healed by now. Worthington never had to sit out a broken bone for more than two days. He pushed her gently against the wall and took the offending crutch away. He could see the collar bone under her tee shirt. The line, which should have been straight and smooth, was rising in the center. He pulled her neckline down and saw the vivid bruise that radiated from the deformity.

"Shit, Jubes," he whispered. "It's broken again."

"What?" she gasped.

He swept her up into his arms, the crutches clattering to the floor, and rushed her back to the lab.

"Hank!" he yelled. "Get in here." He placed her gently on a bed

"Logan," Hank said as he left his office, "there is no need to yell. I am just in my office. What seems to be the... Oh my stars!" Logan had cut Jubilee's shirt off, revealing the ugly bruise. "Did you fall Jubilation?"

"No," she told him, groaning in pain as he probed the bone with a finger. "It started to hurt this morning." Hank frowned at it accusingly.

"Hank?" Logan asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"I need to do an angiogram immediately. If the wounds healed by Angel's blood are reversing, she is in great danger."

"Wolvie?" Jubilee's voice trembled with fear.

"I'm here darlin'. I won't leave ya." He grabbed her hand in his firm grip. "I won't let anything happen to ya, I promise." He sent a telepathic message to Jean. The redheads surprise and fear were palpable.

Within thirty minutes, Jubilee was sedated and in X-Ray for the procedure. Hank refused to allow Logan to stay with her. His adamantium gave off radiation in very small amounts but it was enough to make it difficult to get accurate films when he was in the room. He understood why he was thrown out but he didn't like it. He paced the outer lab with the rest of the team, waiting for Hank and Rogue to finish. The procedure took forty-five minutes. Logan could smell Hank as he to the lab to give them the news. He smelled worried.

"The healing is reversing," he told them. "The fractures have returned and the arterial wall is thinning. I will need to graft the artery within the next four hours or she will begin to bleed."

"Where are you going to get an artery to use?" Jean demanded. "It's not like you can go to Artery's R Us and buy one."

"Calm down Sweetheart," Scott told her. "You don't want to loose the baby."

"You don't understand," she cried turning on him. "She could loose her leg or even die. Oh God, Scott. I can't loose her. She's my baby too."

"My dear, please calm yourself," Hank told her calmly. "I will not allow her to die. I have a colleague at the Cleveland Clinic who may be able to supply a product that replaces a natural artery. It is frequently used to repair the largest artery in the body. It has been very successful."

"Call him," Scott ordered. "Where's Logan?" He looked around. He was nowhere to be found.

"Wit' the Petite," Remy said. "He did' wait ta hear Beast say she's gonna be okay."

"I will talk to him," Beast volunteered. "You will be meeting a physician named Emilio Chavez. There is a heliport on the roof of the clinic that will support the weight of the Blackbird I. I will call him and have him meet you on the roof."

"Bobby, you're with me," Scott told him. "Jean, call Ororo and let her know what happened. Make it clear the she will be fine. I don't want her to interrupt her vacation unless it's clear that Jubilee isn't going to make it. Everyone else, sit tight. We'll get through this."

Hank found Logan sitting beside a sleeping Jubilee looking distressed. The big blue feral could smell the scent of tears which surprised him. He couldn't remember ever seeing the smaller man cry.

"She'll be fine, Logan," he told him quietly. "I have Scott going to Cleveland to pick up a Teflon mesh that is used to replace the aorta. It will work on the femoral artery. I won't let her die, I promise."

"Can ya take one from me?" he croaked.

"Your blood type and hers don't match," Hank told him. "She can't reject your cells because they repair themselves too fast but yours will reject hers. Graft vs host rejection is usually fatal."

Logan was silent for a moment. Hank could smell the increase in his grief. "This procedure works Logan. She'll be fine."

"This Teflon thingy's been used fer a while?" Logan asked.

"About two decades," Hand confirmed. "There is one thing." Logan's eyes swung over to his. "The graft isn't as strong as the natural artery. Her leg won't tolerate the stress of a fight. She will no longer be an active X-Man."


	4. Chapter 4

Second Chances

Chapter 4

Logan was stunned. Jubilee, unable to go on missions or even protect herself effectively? It was her worst nightmare come true. The times she hated the most when she was growing up was when the team would go on a mission and leave her behind, telling her she would get hurt. Now, she had a lifetime of that to look forward to.

"If she were to be struck in the leg, the graft would separate from the artery and she would hemorrhage," Beast told him. "I would not be able to get to her in time to repair it. She would be dead from blood loss in four minutes."

"Oh God," Logan whispered, mourning the loss of his whole partner and love. She wouldn't stay. He knew that. She was so much like him and she would feel she was a burden to the team. He felt the same when he lost his adamantium. They would try to convince her to stay where they could protect her but she would reject them. She had too much pride to let them expose themselves to danger to protect her. No, she would leave and make a life of her own. And when she left, he would go with her.

"She'll leave, Hank," he said quietly. "You know that."

"Yes," he said sadly. "I expect she will." He pulled back the blankets to examine the small puncture wound in her groin he had made during the procedure. Satisfied that it wasn't bleeding, her replaced the covering. "Will you try to stop her?" he asked, curious.

He shook his head slightly. "No," he said, his voice low and rough. "I'm goin' with her."

Hank's hand dropped to the older man's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Keep her flat," he instructed. "I need to set up for surgery. Will you let her know when she wakes up?"

"Yeah. I'll tell her."

Hank's retreating scent indicated he had left the room and Logan was alone with her. He looked at the sleeping face, so smooth and calm now. In a few moments, it wouldn't be so calm. All she ever wanted to be was an X-Man. That was closed to her now. Her studies in library science would guarantee that she wouldn't starve but the excitement and danger she craved would be forever denied to her.

He stroked her cheek, his heart breaking for her loss. It didn't matter to him. He loved her, not her ability to fight evil. Yeah, she had been one to kick ass and take names later but that wasn't why he loved her. He loved her strength of will and her compassion. He loved her ability to get right to the heart of a matter without pussy footing around. She has an incredible ability to know what people mean even if they don't say it directly. She wasn't afraid to express her views on anything. He hoped that wouldn't change.

He held his breath as she stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hi," she whispered. "Can I have a drink?"

"Sorry darlin'," he said. "Blue needs ta operate again. Ya can't have anythin' till after."

"What'd he say?" she asked, her speech slurred.

"Everythin's comin' undone. He's gonna fix yer leg with some kinda mesh." He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "It's gonna make it well darlin', but it won't be strong."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What aren't you telling me?" she demanded.

"The mesh'll let ya keep yer leg," he told her, "but it won't be strong enough fer ya fight. Hank's takin' ya off the team."

"Permanently?" she demanded.

"Yeah," he said, his head bowed. He couldn't meet her eyes. He didn't want to see the accusation in them. If he had thrown her higher, or to the side, she wouldn't be in this situation.

"Why?" she cried.

"If ya get hit in the leg, yer gonna bleed ta death before we can do anythin'. Ya only survived this time 'cause Jeannie saw it happen and slapped a telekinetic patch over the hole before ya bled ta death. Now that she's pregnant, she's off the team fer a while too. She won't be there if somethin' happens."

"That's an awful lot of 'if's'," she said, her voice unsteady.

"Ya know as well as I do that shit happens ta us," he told her. "Somethin'll happen. Just a matter of time."

She was quiet for a while. He kept his eyes on his lap until her heard her sob. Looking up, he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Aw, baby," he whispered as he placed his cheek next to hers. "Please don't cry. I can't stand ta see ya cry."

"I can't do it again, Logan," she sniffed. "I can't stay here and watch everyone go off without me."

"I know," he told her, kissing her cheek.

"I can't," she said, shaking her head and crying. "Please don't make me do it again."

"I won't darlin'," he said, wiping the tears from her face. "I promise."

She wasn't listening to him. All of the feelings of abandonment from her childhood were welling up inside her, threatening to drown her in pain.

"Please don't make me stay," she begged. "I'll be good, I promise, just let me come along with you."

"Jubilee?" She was scaring him now. Her eyes were unfocused, lost in the fears of her past.

"I hafta go," she said, her voice rising. "Ya won't come back this time. I need ta be there ta protect yer back." She slipped back into the accent of her childhood. "Let me go, Wolvie. I promise I'll take cover if it gets too bad. Please let me go with you." By the end, she was screaming.

"Jubilee, calm down," he begged. "I ain't gonna leave ya here." She was thrashing wildly on the bed, not hearing him. "I'm sorry darlin'. I hafta do this." He reached down to her neck and found the cluster of nerves and blood vessels. With a delicate touch, he pressed the knot and she lost consciousness.

When he removed his hand from her neck, he was shaking badly.

"I promise ya, Jubilation Lee," he told the unconscious woman, "I won't abandon ya again. As long as ya want me, I'll be there. Whatever ya want ta do, I'll help ya."

"Ah'm gonna hold ya ta that," Rogue said from the door.

"I mean every word," he said defiantly.

"Ah know ya do, Sugah," she said as she stepped up behind him. "What happened? Ah heard her screamin' in the War Room."

"She's off the team," he told her. "Hank says her leg won't stand the strain of combat ever again. She kinda lost it when I told her so I put her out."

"Ah need ta help Hank set her collar bone," she told him. "Ah'll give her somethin' ta keep her out fer a while." She went to the cabinet at the head of the bed and drew up a dose of a sedative. Injecting it into the IV line, she looked at the sweet face she'd known for so many years.

"Oh, Sweet Pea," she said as she ran her gloved fingers through her hair. "Ah wish things had turned out different for ya. Ya don't deserve this." She continued to stroke her hair, deep in thought.

"You know Jubilee'll leave," he stated.

"Yeah," she said. "Ah figured she would. Logan, how'd ya like ta get her out of the mansion and stay near enough ta run with the team when ya need to?"

"How?" he asked curiously.

"Come with me tomorrow and Ah'll show ya," she told him.

"Rogue," Hank called from another room. "Are we ready to reduce the clavicle?"

"Yeah," she yelled. "We're ready. I'll bring her in." She turned to Logan and placed her hand on his cheek. "She'll be fine Sugah. She'll go straight to surgery after Beast sets the bone. Why don't ya get somthin' ta eat? Surgery's gonna take some time."

He smelled Jean approaching. Now that he knew, he could tell she was pregnant. The change in her pheromones was distinct. He could even tell it was a girl. He wondered if she knew. Oh well, it's not his business anyway. He had other, more important things to worry about.

"Jean," Rogue said as she glanced over his shoulder. "Take Logan, here, and get him some supper. Beast is gonna be a while and I'm sure he hasn't eaten today." Her eyes were saying 'Get him outta my hair'.

Jean nodded slightly and smiled. "Come on Logan," she said gently. "I'll get you some stew, heavy on the meat."

"I ain't a child Jean," he snapped, exhaustion and fear making his temper short.

"I know," she told him. "But you have forgotten to eat today. You can come back after you finish a bowl of stew."

If looks could kill, Jean would have been struck dead where she stood.

"Call me when he's done," he growled out as he swept by the ladies.

He stopped in the War Room long enough to grab a communicator badge and grunt at Remy who was watching the monitors.

"Goin' out, mon ami?" Remy asked, his feet propped on the desk.

"Damn women," he growled. "Tryin' ta baby me like I ain't got the good sense God gave a turnip." He stabbed the pin into his shirt, drawing blood. He welcomed the pain. "Goin' out on my scoot," he told Remy. "If I ain't back in three, call me in." He stomped out of the War Room, not waiting for Remy to agree.

He made his way from the lower levels to the garage. The halls were full of students between classes and every one of them squashed themselves against the walls when they saw him coming. No one tried to stop him. The look on his face told them to stop his progress was to die, instantly. The only person capable of erasing the thunderous expression on his face was lying unconscious in the Med Lab. Even Jean, whom he had lusted after for the better part of fifteen years, didn't have the power to bring him out of the mood he was in.

He paused in the kitchen long enough to grab a six pack from the fridge and growl threateningly at two of the younger students who happen to be in the way. They skittered quickly out of the room, one in tears. The girls' reaction to his high temper was enough to cool him off enough to apologize to her as she was leaving.

He shoved the six pack roughly into his saddle bag and swung a leg over the seat of his scoot. The Harley started with a roar and he peeled out of the garage, his temper still simmering hot. He was tearing down Greymalkin Lane when he heard the Blackbird pass overhead. Cyke and Popsicle were back from Cleveland.

He stopped and watched as the black form descended to land in it's hanger. Anyone watching him would have seen the pained and troubled look on his face as he tracked the jet and rubbed the ache in his chest. He watched until the plane was out of his sight, then continued on his ride.

The growl of the engine bounced wildly through the trees, knocking many of the brightly colored leaves from their precarious perches in the branches. The wind ripped through his hair and red, gold and orange leaves swirled behind him like brightly colored butterflies in drunken flight.

He didn't care where he was going, he just wanted to go. To bring to the front the beast that lived within him. He pushed harder; going faster. He snarled, daring the road to defeat him. The civilized man was peeled from his skin by the road and the wind an the cold, leaving the animal behind. He was finally free.

He rode for hours, the man inside warning the animal not to go far from the mansion. They both understood that the mate was hurt but would be well again with time. All they needed to do was wait and they could claim the mate, but she must be healthy first. A broken mate produced sickly young. She must be healthy enough for the chase for the mating hunt produced the strongest pups. He wanted strong young so he could teach them to survive in this world of men.

Both man and beast agreed that this mate would last. She wouldn't die like the others. She was stronger to begin with and after he taught her how defend herself and their young, she would be able to stand up against anything.

The 'chirrup' of the communicator on his chest sent the beast scurrying back inside in fear. It didn't like the electronics the man was required to carry with him. He refused to deal with it and forced the man to the front to answer the call.

"What?" he growled.

"Hank's almost finished," Scott told him. Logan was heartened to hear the normalcy of his voice. The surgery must have gone well.

"Be back in fifteen," he told him. He turned the bike around and headed back to the mansion at a considerably more sedate speed.

He bound into the Med Lab to find the entire team gathered, waiting for Hank to appear. Remy was carrying the small remote alarm that kept him abreast of what the monitors were watching. At present, he was ignoring whatever the computers were saying. He was deep in conversation with Rogue. From the look on his face, he was propositioning her. The look on her face said she was considering it. She was still dressed in surgical greens with a paper bonnet covering her hair. Not the most attractive ensemble to be sure but Gambit didn't seem to mind.

"He's making sure she's going to breathe on her own," Scott said as he walked over to him. "He hasn't come out to give us the details yet but Rogue said it went well."

"It went great," Rogue called from the other side of the room. "She's gonna be in ICU fer a coulpa days but she'll be fine. Why don't ya go see Hank? He'll tell ya what happened."

He crossed the room, avoiding the clusters of X-Men and slipped into the small ICU that doubles as a recovery room. He found the large, blue doctor bending over the still form of Jubilee. Her skin was pale but not so white that he was concerned. A plastic tube was sitting in her slightly open mouth, a small amount of blood crusted the outside of the tube. Her eyes were slitted open in a vacant stare he had come to associate with anesthesia. The stench of medicines hung heavy in the air, hitting the back of his throat and making him roll his tongue around in his mouth to try to get the taste out.

"Logan," Hank called. "Could you please hold her down? I need to extubate her."

"Huh?"

"The tube," he clarified. "I need to remove the breathing tube. Just hold her shoulders so she doesn't jump."

He came over to the bed and rested his hands heavily on her shoulders. Her skin was cool but dry.

"Jubilee," Hank called loudly. "Take a deep breath and blow it out."

Her eyes opened in confusion.

"Deep breath and blow." Hank instructed.

Her chest rose as she followed the instructions. Hank wrapped a towel around the tube and pulled as she exhaled. The breath ended with a wracking cough. She gasped loudly and began to cough again. Hank slapped a mask over her mouth and told her to take deep breaths as best she could.

She moaned and reached up for the mask, intending to remove it. Logan caught her hand and held it.

"Don't touch it darlin'," he told her. "Ya need the oxygen ta get the chemicals outta yer blood."

Her eyes finally met his and widened in recognition. "I'm here darlin'. I'll stay as long as ya need me."

She smiled slightly as her eyes drifted closed again. "Love you," she whispered beneath the mask.

If it wasn't for his heightened senses, he wouldn't have heard it. He brushed her hair away from her face with a callused finger tip. "Love ya too," he murmured.

During the first twenty-four hours, he didn't leave her side. He stayed through the dressing changes, the medication, the visits from the team. Through the bed pans and the post operative vomiting. He was finally forced to leave her, not by the X-Men, but by the Brotherhood and their desire to take over a chemical factory in Ohio.

It was there that he realized how important she was not only to himself, but to the team. With Storm in Africa and Jean and Jubilee off for medical reasons, they were severely short handed. Cyclops had asked Sam Guthrie, Kurt Wagner and Emma Frost to make up their numbers and they all agreed. Unfortunately, none of them could match Jubilee's power projection and the battle was longer and bloodier as a result.

The team had been a delicate balance of distance and close in fighters. Cyclops, Jubilee, Storm and Gambit made up the distance fighters with their mutant abilities to project their powers over distances. Rogue and Wolverine were the up close and personal fighters, getting into the thick of things and inflicting as much damage as possible. Jean was their safety net able to pull an injured team member out when necessary and keeping track of the enemy. She linked the X-Men together so they always knew what each member was doing at any given time. Their incidents of 'friendly fire' were few and far between

With Storm and Jubilee out, Cyclops and Gambit were the only heavy guns they had. Cyclops had a powerful mutant gift but he could only shoot what he could see. Gambit also had a powerful mutation but it was limited by his throwing arm and the wind which occasionally sent a charged card fluttering wildly across the battlefield, sometimes taking out friendlies. Jubilee wasn't limited by line of sight or wind. She could hit a target as long as she had an accurate mental picture. She was able to direct her paffs around obstacles and people to place them exactly where they were needed most. She and Gambit were the only two effective dual role fighters on the team at the present time. Both were immune to the energy they produced and both were deadly fighters up close.

Cannonball's powers were so close to Rogue's that he seemed to be redundant. Emma had tried to link them as Jean had done but was too unfamiliar with the minds of the team. As a result, Wolverine, Gambit and Rogue were left out of the loop completely. They had been reduced to shouting across the streets to let their teammates know where they were. This, in turn, alerted the enemy to their positions. Gambit, Emma and Scott had all been wounded slightly. Wolverine himself had been severely wounded but had recovered enough to finish the battle. By the time they boarded the jet, he was in a very foul mood indeed.

"What a cluster fuck," he swore as he climbed into the pilots seat to fly them home. The wounded arm of Cyclops prevented him from taking his customary position as team pilot. He sullenly took the seat behind Wolverine.

"We need a lot of training to pull this team together," he mumbled knowing Wolverine would hear him.

"Yer gonna hafta wait until the wounded can train," Logan reminded him as he sped through the preflight checklist. "Until then, Rogue, Crawler, Beast and I'll take care of business. Everyone else is just in the way."

"God," Scott sighed. "I miss having Jubilee on the team."

"Me too,Cyke," Logan murmured. "Me too."


	5. Chapter 5

Second Chances

Chapter 5

The team returned to the mansion and the injured warriors were escorted to the Med Lab for treatment. None of the injuries were life or career threatening, just more of a nuisance that anything else. Scott, Remy and Emma would be out of action for at least a week.

Jean and Jubilee stopped their checkers game as soon as the team began to trickle in. Jean immediately went to fuss over her wounded husband. Jubilee was frustrated that she couldn't help as Hank bustled from patient to patient, suturing and bandaging as he went. He pronounced all the injuries minor and allowed them to recover in their own rooms as long as they didn't overtax themselves. Soon, Logan and Jubilee were alone in the lab.

"We missed ya out there today," Logan told her.

"I missed me being out there, too" she said. "I wish there was a way I could help you guys without scaring the crap out of you every time I go."

"Ya scared the crap outta me every time ya went out before all this happened," he said with a lopsided grin. "I learned ta suck it in and let ya do yer job."

She grabbed her brush and sat up in the bed. "I tried not to worry you," she said waving the brush around. "I knew if I got hurt, you'd have a whole litter of kittens right there. Someone would end up dead if I didn't watch what I was doing."

He snatched the brush from her hands to keep from getting whacked in the head.

"Turn around darlin'," he told her. She presented her back to him and he began to draw the brush through her hair. "I'm not apologizin' fer being protective of ya," he told her as he pulled the brush through her silky, black hair. "I've been watchin' over ya fer too long ta change that. Ya gotta admit, though, I've been better 'bout lettin' ya fight along side the team. I ain't said once that ya had ta stay behind. Yer grown up now, Jubes. Ya got the right ta do the things ya were born ta do and that includes bein' an X-Man."

"But not anymore," she said softly, distracted. The feel of his hands in her hair was soothing and strangely erotic. Her scalp was beginning to tingle She knew he loved her hair. He'd brushed it for her many times in the past when she was younger but it never affected her like this. His touch this time was almost like foreplay. It was a soft, tantalizing caress that made her come alive in a way she wasn't used to. It was excitingly scary and wonderful. She could hear the catch in his breath as he ran his fingers through her silky strands, parting it, plaiting it into one long rope. His breath was hot on her neck as he leaned forward to breathe in her scent.

She turned in his arms to look at him. His skin was flushed and his eyes dark with desire. She knew what he wanted and she was ready to give it to him. She leaned in and nuzzled his neck, taking in his own scent. The scent of cigars, pine and aroused man filled her senses. Her head was spinning like she was drunk. Even straight whiskey wasn't this intoxicating.

"I want ya Jubes," he told her in a low rumbling growl. "But I want ya healthy first. I want yer first time ta be memorable fer pleasure, not 'cause of pain. If I take ya now, the pain from yer wounds'll ruin the experience fer ya."

She leaned back and looked into his eyes. He was firm on this, she could tell. She brushed a feathery kiss across his lips. "I'll wait," she told him, softly. "But not one second longer that I have to. I've been waiting for this for ten years and I won't wait one moment longer than necessary."

"I'll keep ya busy till then," he told her, his mouth descended over hers, plundering, taking. Her inexperience warring with his vast knowledge. His tongue thrusted slowly in and out of her mouth, a promise of things to come.

She moaned as his hand skimmed her breast, barely touching. She leaned into his hand, trying to strengthen the contact, but he withdrew.

His mouth left hers and made it's way to her ear leaving tiny kisses in it's wake. A shiver ran down her spine as his tongue swept the upper curve of her ear coming to rest on the lobe. Slowly, he drew the nubbin of skin into his mouth and began to suckle, softly. Fire shot from his mouth to the aching center of her desire making her gasp. The fire settled between her legs and throbbed. She shifted her hips trying to do... something. She wasn't sure what she needed. She wanted the ache to stop and she wanted it to go on forever as her world shrunk to Logan and his skilled hands and mouth.

Her head fell back as he kissed his way down her throat, his tongue dipping into the hollow of her neck. He stopped at the black and blue skin that marked the fracture in her collar bone. He kissed the bruise gently, taking care not to hurt her.

The sight of the purple skin and the device that immobilized her arm and shoulder brought him back to his senses. 'Not yet,' the animal told him. 'She needs ta be healthy.' He reluctantly pulled away from her and sat back on the bed. Her eyes were glazed with newly discovered passion and confused want. He couldn't satisfy that want yet, but soon. His overprotective nature had kept her ignorant of many things. It was his responsibility to teach her these things. He shivered in anticipation.

Her eyes flew open in confusion. Why did he stop?

"That was yer first lesson," he told her, his voice rough with need.

Her mouth dropped open in shock as he rose and walked out of the lab, leaving her to her misery.

The next morning found Rogue and Logan talking to a local real estate agent. Rogue's idea was for him to buy a small house in town that was close enough to the mansion for him to join the team when his special skills were needed but far enough away that Jubilee wouldn't feel abandoned when the team went out. Logan agreed that they needed separation from the X-Men but he wasn't sure if he should still be involved in their missions. She was bound to feel some resentment when he was invited to fight with them and she wasn't.

He spoke later with Gambit later about how to ease her into civilian life.

"Get her pregnant," Gambit told him.

He had unfortunately said it just as Logan took a large mouthful of beer. It sprayed out of his mouth and nose when his brain heard the statement.

"What?" he coughed.

"Get the petite pregnant," Remy explained

"What the hell are ya talkin' about, Gumbo?" he demanded.

Gambit sighed and shook his head. "When a man and a woman love each other, dey get real close..." he began, speaking as if he were talking to a child.

"I know the flamin' facts of life, dick head. Whadaya mean 'get her pregnant'?"

"Give her somthin' else ta worry 'bout," Remy told him. "A bebe'll give her responsibilities dat only she can take care of. Not like you have de equipment ta hatch and feed a bebe."

He gave the taller mutant an evil look. "I ain't getting' her pregnant just ta keep her home."

"Gambit ain't sayin' ta get her pregnant ta keep her home," Remy objected. "Jus' ta give her somthin' else ta protect. She won' wan' ta run wit de X-Men if she has a bebe ta protect."

Logan stared at him in open mouthed astonishment.

"T'ink about it, homme," he said as he snagged his trench coat and wandered out to the garage.

'Did the oily Cajun have a point?' Logan asked himself as he watched the younger man close the garage door behind him. Should he use her body's natural ability to reproduce against her like that? He knew Jubilee loved children and wanted her own but he wasn't sure if she wanted them now. It would definitely stop her from wanting to go with the team and he craved a child from her. The picture of a baby girl with Jubilee's beautiful blue eyes and glossy black hair flashed through his mind. He found himself ginning like an idiot.

"Stop it dim wit," he grumbled to himself as he smothered the grin. 'Ya can't force her ta have a baby if she ain't ready no matter how much ya want it.'

'Not yet,' the beast inside told him. 'We'll get what we want but not yet.'

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "I know."

"Logan?" Jean asked from the door. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he snapped. "I'm goin' ta visit Jubes." He brushed past her and out the door before she could question him further.

She caught snippets of thoughts from him as he worked his way down to the Med Lab. It sounded as if the man and animal were arguing about something. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing's ever easy for him." she said to the air.

She filled the tea kettle from the tap and placed it on the burner, flipping on the gas. A sleeve of crackers had been left out for her by some helpful teammate, knowing she would need them sometime during the day. 'Pregnancy would be great if it didn't come along with nausea and the constant need to pee,' she thought to herself as she knocked on the door of the bathroom off the kitchen. Thankfully, it was empty. The way this pregnancy was going, she would be intimately familiar with every bathroom in the mansion within four weeks.

"Afternoon darlin'," Logan said as he strode onto the Med Lab. "Should you be up?"

Jubilee was attempting to walk across the room by hanging onto the walls. Her face held intense concentration and pain as she deliberately placed one foot in front of the other.

"I don't care," she snarled. "I am not using a bedpan ever again. Help me to the goddamn bathroom."

He suppressed his laughter as he swept her up into his arms and took her to the bathroom.

"I can walk," she protested.

"Ya can walk back," he told her with a small chuckle. "I think gettin' there is a little more urgent than gettin' back. 'Sides, I like the way ya feel in my arms."

"Can you hold the romance until later? I really have to pee."

"Sure darlin'," He placed her gently on the floor in front of the toilet and leaned back against the sink, his arms folded across his chest.

"Um, Wolvie?" she said "You can leave now."

"Most accidents at home happen in the bathroom," he informed her. "I ain't takin' any chances."

"Get out, smart ass," she growled.

She could hear him laughing as he closed the door behind him to give her privacy. She tried to sit on the toilet by bending both knees but the incision in her left leg refused to allow it. She stood again, hissing in pain.

"Ya alright in there," Logan called.

"Fine," she yelled. She was mortified to find her voice shaky. She tried again, this time keeping her left leg straight. She flopped inelegantly onto the toilet, but she made it. She sighed with relief as she emptied her over extended bladder.

He could hear the tell tale tinkle that indicated she was doing her business and smiled. Beast may not be too happy with her but he was proud. She wasn't going to let herself get too out of shape even if she wasn't going to be allowed to fight with the team. She was going to come back from this unable to fight but stronger.

"Um, Wolvie?" she called from the bathroom.

"Ya done?" he asked.

"Is Jean or Rogue around?"

"Rogue's in town gettin' groceries and Jean's pukin' her guts out," he told her. "Whadaya need?"

"I'll wait here until Rogue gets home," she squeaked.

"Come on Jubes," he said. "Ya can't stay in there all day. Just tell me what ya need."

"Ya won't get it for me."

"Try me."

"Okay," she sighed. "I need ya to get me a tampon."

She could hear him, outside of the door, swearing softly.

"Wolvie?"

"I'll get it fer ya but if ya tell anyone, I'll kill ya."

"My lips are sealed," she assured him. She had expected him to refuse.

"Where are they?"

"I'm out," she called. "Can you ask Jean or Rogue for one?"

"Yer out?" her asked incredulously. "Damn Jubes. Ya want me ta ask every woman in the mansion fer a tampon?"

"I can't see any other way," she said in a testy voice. "It's not like I planned this. Come on Wolvie. They'll understand. We borrow from each other all the time."

"Yeah but I've never asked them,"

"Just tell them it's for me," she told him. "Can you hurry? I'm starting to feel a little woozy and my leg hurts."

"Put yer head down and take deep breaths," he instructed. "I'll be right back."

He found Jean in the kitchen looking very pale, eating crackers and drinking tea. He could smell her nausea and the results of her breakfast binge. If he wasn't in the middle of an embarrassed panic he would have felt sorry for her.

"Oh Logan," Jean moaned. "Is there a pressure point for nausea?"

"Gimme yer hands," he sighed. He grabbed both palms in his hands and found the points in each hand that would decrease her nausea. Using his thumbs, he applied a gentle pressure. The difference was dramatic. The pallor receded and her eyes cleared.

"Oh, that's wonderful," she cried.

"Ya gotta pay me," he told her as he released her hands.

"Done," she said. "What do you need?"

"Promise ya won't laugh?"

"I promise," she swore.

"I need a tampon fer Jubes," he mumbled.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Suddenly, the kitchen was filled with peals of laughter.

"Dammit, Red," he growled. "Ya promised."

"I'm sorry," she gasped through her laughter. The sight of his red cheeks was enough to send her off again, laughing so hard she nearly fell off of the stool she was sitting on.

"C'mon Jean," he begged. "Jubes is trapped in the bathroom."

"I'm sorry," she took great gulping breaths, trying to calm herself. "I gave all mine to Rogue when I found out I was pregnant."

"Can ya get one from her and take it to Jubilee?" he asked hopefully.

"She's still out at the store," she smiled. "Ask Remy if you can get one from her bathroom."

"Can't you do it?"

"She's your responsibility," she told him, enjoying his discomfort. "If you're planning to make a go at a relationship with her, you need to get used to her period. Don't be embarrassed Logan. It's a natural function of the female body."

"I've lived a hundred years without dealin' with it. Why do I gotta start now?"

"Because you love her," Jean told him simply.

He thought about it for a while. "Gumbo huh," he said.

"He knows where she keeps them."

"Thanks Jean," he sighed. He wasn't going to get away with keeping his search a secret.

He found Remy in the den watching a boxing match on the large plasma TV.

"Wolverine," he cried. "Great fight. Sit down and watch."

"Can't right now," Logan said. "I need somethin' from Rogue and if ya blab, I'll gut ya."

"Oh?" his eyebrows rose.

"Jubilee's trapped in the bathroom and needs a tampon," he whispered. "Jean says ya know where Rogue keeps hers."

An evil grin spread across Gambit's face. "Sure Wolverine," he said loudly. "I can get ya one of Rogue's tampons."

"Shoulda just broke inta her room and got it fer myself," he mumbled miserably.

"Let's go get ya a tampon," Remy crowed, grabbing Logan's arm and dragging him out of the den.

"If ya want ta live Gumbo, you'll keep yer voice down," Logan threatened.

"Can' resist, mon ami," Remy laughed. "Never t'ought I'd see da day when the great Wolverine'd be helpin' a woman wit' her period. De t'ings we do fer love."

Neither noticed Scott and Bobby standing in the first floor hall, smothering their laughter with both hands.

He made his way back to the Med Lab with the tampon tucked into his pocket and growling at anyone he met on the way, daring them to say anything. He knew his strange request would make it through the school before he got back to Jubilee.

"Jubes?" he called as he knocked lightly on the bathroom door. She didn't answer.

"Jubilee?" he called louder. "Open the door darlin'." He could smell the blood but it smelled like menstrual blood, not wound blood.

He cracked open the door and peeked in. She was slumped on the toilet, unconscious.

"Shit," he swore. Slipping an arm under her knees and the other around her back, he lifted her and took her back to her bed.

"Jubilee?" he called her as he slapped her cheek lightly. "Wake up darlin'."

She was so pale, she was almost transparent. He could hear her rapid heartbeat and her quick, shallow breathing. He hooked her back up to the monitor and took a quick reading. Her blood pressure was way too low. He adjusted the bed so her head was lower than her heart and waited. A minute later, her eyes fluttered open.

"Wolvie?" she asked weakly.

'Ya passed out on the pot," he told her. "How ya feelin' now?"

"Terrible," she admitted. "My leg is throbbing and my head aches. Did you get me a tampon?"

"Jubes, I found ya unconscious in the bathroom. I ain't worried about yer period right now."

"Well I am," she said testily. "You think I want to lie here and bleed all over the sheets? Give me the damn thing and turn around."

He handed her the little package and turned his back to her. He heard the crackle of plastic, then nothing. The scent of tears filled the air.

"I can''t do it," she whimpered.

"What's the mater?" he asked.

"I've always used my left hand to do this," she sniffed. "I can't get the right angle with my right hand. Can you ask Hank to come in here?"

"Like hell," he growled. "I ain't lettin' Hank touch you there."

"He's a doctor, Logan."

"He's a man too," he said stubbornly. "He ain't touchin' ya there."

"What?" she laughed. "You gonna do it?"

"Better me than him," he told her. "Yer mine. I ain't lettin' another man touch ya."

Which was how he ended up between her legs, but inserting a tampon. It was shear torture for both of them. She was incredibly embarrassed, he was incredibly aroused. He quickly placed the tampon and jumped up from the bed.

"I gotta go," he said, panicking.

"Wolvie?" she asked as she covered herself.

"Yer scent is drivin' me crazy," he explained as he crossed the room to the door. "Ya ain't well enough yet."

She watched him flee. The humor of the situation finally hit her and she spent the next five minutes laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

Second Chances

Chapter 6

Jubilee's physical therapy started again the fourth day after surgery. Initially, all she did was stretching exercises and cell regeneration. Hank didn't want to start electro stim until the incision was a little further along in the healing process. At first, just straightening and bending her knee was agony but as she healed and the muscle became used to the exercise, it became more comfortable to work it. The big insult was that she wasn't able to use the crutches due to the fractured collar bone so she forced to rely on Logan to push her in a wheelchair.

Physical therapy was going well and she was beginning to feel more comfortable doing the exercises. Logan was a different matter entirely. He continued his slow seduction, adding a new element every day. It always started with a kiss that made her feel as if she were sitting on a wild roller coaster and progressed from there. The day he finally touched her breasts, she thought she was going to loose it.

She had been unable to wear a bra because the strap would lie across her sore collar bone so his touch was electrifying. The next day, he gave her nipple a tweak and roll. She nearly came right then. By the second week, he had her shirt open and was nuzzling and licking her breasts. Every time he did this, she would beg him not to stop, but he would rock back on his heals and say, "Not yet darlin'. When yer healthy." Then he would leap to his feet and leave her.

Her temper became very short. She knew she was loosing her mind when she whacked Bobby over the head with a wooden spoon for eating a bowl of her cereal one morning.

"Hey," he yelled, rubbing the growing lump on the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"For being a man," she snarled and limped out of the kitchen, giving Logan an evil look as she passed him in the hall.

"What did you do to her?" Bobby demanded as Logan poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Shut the fuck up," Logan growled, his mood equally as bad.

"Goddammit, Logan. Can't you do anything right? They're supposed to feel better after you make love to them, not worse."

'Snickt.'

Fearing for his life, Bobby jumped out of his chair and ran from the kitchen.

Remy dodged the fleeing Ice Man as he barreled through the door and poked his head in to see why Bobby was so scared. He found a furious Wolverine leaning against the counter, trying to cool his temper.

"You okay, mon ami?" he asked, not daring to come in just yet.

"Call the cleanin' service," Logan snarled. "They're gonna need ta clean Drake's blood outta the carpet."

"Gambit hear what he said," Remy said and he slowly entered the room. "Ya haven't touched de petite have you?"

"I'm takin' it slow," he growled.

"Dere's slow," Remy said. "and dere's slow. Yer goin' so slow dat yer goin' backwards. De poor femme is goin' crazy, homme. Give her what she wants. Ya don't wake up a femme like de petite and not finish it. Don' let her find someone ta finish what ya won'."

"She ain't healed enough."

"Mebe not fer de Wolverine but Gambit bet Logan t'ink she's healed enough, neh?"

He couldn't answer that. The part of him that was a man knew that if he were gentle, he could make love to her and not hurt her. The animal part of him, however, knew that she wasn't healthy enough to mate. He debated which part to listen to; the man or the instincts. Gambit made up his mind for him.

A small foil wrapped package flashed before him held between two long fingers.

"Quit playin' wit' her," Gambit told him softly. "Make love ta de femme before she kills someone."

In the end, he waited another week. The strap was removed from her injured arm and she was allowed to begin exercising it along with the leg. Part of the exercises involved using the arm and hand to explore his body. He began to understand why Jubilee was in such a bad mood all the time. He decided to move the sessions to his room.

He didn't plan on making love to her that afternoon but the little minx got aggressive. His intention was to give her an orgasm so she would feel a little less tense, and to introduce oral sex to the mix. A final sweep of his tongue and she was shaking in the aftermath of a tremendous orgasm. She must have decided turnabout was fair play because the next thing he knew, she had flipped them over and was kissing and licking her way down his abdomen, zeroing in on her target. He groaned as he felt her hot mouth close over him.

"Jubes," he gasped. "Stop!"

"Are you going to give me what I want?" she asked.

"I give," he moaned. "I'll give ya anythin' ya want."

She kissed her way back up his body. When she got to his mouth, she swept her tongue over his sharp teeth and plunged her tongue deep in his mouth.

"Make love to me," she ordered.

He flipped her onto her back and reached into the drawer by his bed. Once he was properly attired, he did exactly what she wanted. Jubilee felt as if she had died and gone to heaven.

The change in their mood was apparent immediately. Jean smiled broadly at her as they entered the dinning room that night for dinner. Remy winked at Logan and Rogue summed it up for all of them.

"It's about damn time," she said. "Ah thought we were gonna hafta lock ya in a room together."

Jubilee and Logan continued the physical therapy, interspersed with long sessions of love making. By the sixth week, Beast pronounced her mostly healed. He gave Logan the okay to start her on Danger Room training but cautioned him to take it easy for another four weeks.

Her first Danger Room exercise was an eye opener. She had thought she had been able to stay in decent shape considering her injuries but she found herself out of breath and extremely sore after fifteen minutes.

She laid on the floor of the Danger Room looking up at the ceiling, fuming.

"Ya okay darlin?" Logan asked as he stood over her.

"I'm fine," she snapped.

"C'mon Jubes," he said as he lowered himself to the floor beside her. "This is the first time in the Danger Room in almost three months. Yer expectin' too much too soon"

"Am I?" she demanded. "Am I expecting too much to be able to protect myself from the sickos of the world who'll come after me just because I'm a mutant? Maybe I'm expecting too much to have a life where I don't have to protect myself every time I turn around. Maybe I need to wear a sign that says 'Yes I'm a mutant but don't hit me. I might bleed all over you'." She turned over on her stomach and buried her face in her arms. "You should have let me die."

Half a second later, she was on her back with Wolverine looming over her, his knees straddling her hips and his angry face close to hers.

"Don't ever say anything like that again," he snarled. He shook her shoulders firmly. "Ya hear me Jubilee? I love ya. Yer the only thing keepin' me sane."

"You love me?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Of course I do," he said exasperated.

"You've never said it before," she told him.

"Ya mean everythin' ta me." He ran a finger down her neck making her shiver. "Just 'cause I don't say it all the time don't mean I don't love ya."

She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him down close. "I love you too," she said against his lips. "Please don't die on me."

"I'll try," he told her as he captured her lips in a searing kiss.

Bobby Drake stepped up to the Danger Room door only to find it locked. He had scheduled a session for this time yesterday. He had a scenario that had been giving him problems for the past three days. He was going to have words with whoever is using his Danger Room time.

He climbed the steps to the control room intent on shutting down the sim that was being run. The sight of the naked, undulating couple below made him pause. He knew those cheeks. That was Wolverine so the woman had to be Jubilee. He knew better than to interrupt Logan when he was making love to his girl so he crept back out and into the hall, grinning widely. Another bit of blackmail was tucked into his pocket.

Ororo had returned home a little over two months ago after a very satisfying visit in Africa. She had known before she left that the team had been trying to get Logan and Jubilee together. She had problems with that. Jubilee was still very young and, in her opinion, immature. She didn't think she was ready for an adult relationship with anyone, much less a very experienced Logan.

When she left for Africa, they had been yelling and growling at each other. When she returned, they were dancing around each other like a pair of peacocks in a mating ritual. Not long after that, the tension between them suddenly fell away and they began to act more like normal humans. Ororo knew they were sleeping together and did not approve.

She had tried to reason with Logan, being the more mature partner, but got a terse "Mind yer own business". After that, he had refused to discuss it with her, walking out of the room whenever she entered. She had no choice now but to approach Jubilee and talk to her. She called Jubilee to her attic room one Saturday morning and sat her down on the bed.

"Jubilation," she began, "I am aware of your relationship with Logan and I must say, I do not approve."

"Oh?" Jubilee asked, her eyebrows rising. "And why would that be?"

"He is a very worldly man, well beyond your scope of knowledge at your age. He will most likely hurt you in the course of this relationship. I care for you, my dear, very much and I would not like to see you hurt."

"Why do you think Wolvie will hurt me? He's been very gentle with me and he loves me."

"Of course he loves you," she told her gently. "He raised you. That is why this relationship is wrong. He is like your father."

"Bull," Jubilee exploded. "I had a father. He was killed along with my mother when I was ten. Wolvie was never a father to me. My mentor and my partner, yes, but never a father. If anyone was, it was Sean. He was the one who held the reins for me. He was the one who gave me the limits when I was growing up, not Wolvie. Wolvie always treated me like I was old enough to make my own decisions and was ready to take the consequences when I make a bad choice. He was the only one in this house that treated me like I had any sense. You never did and you still don't. Let me ask you this," she challenged. "You loved Forge. Would he have gotten you a tampon from one of the other women when you couldn't go yourself? Logan did that for me. He asked every women in the mansion for one when I was too sick to go myself. Think about it Storm. A man like Logan wandering all over the house asking the female members of the team for a tampon. That's how I know he loves me. Only a man who loves you would do something like that."

"But you're just a child," Ororo protested.

"How old am I 'Ro?"

"Eighteen last year," she said promptly.

Jubilee shook her head in disgust. "I'll be twenty-four this summer," she corrected. She looked at Ororo's stunned expression. "I've always loved him," she said quietly. "I tried to find another man when I was in college but no one measured up. He's all I ever wanted. We love each other 'Ro. Please be happy for us."

"I cannot," she admitted. "It's wrong."

Jubilee was silent, staring down at her fingernails, sadly.

"It's very wrong, child," Ororo said.

"Let me grow up Ororo," Jubilee begged. "I don't want to loose your friendship but if I have to choose between you, Logan will win. I won't give him up."

"He can hurt you Jubilation."

"And I can hurt him," she replied. "That's the chance you take when you love someone. I can't stop loving him because he might hurt me."

"And when you grow old and can no longer protect yourself? What then? He will still be young and vital."

"Three months ago, I was injured so bad that Hank took me off the team permanently. I can't protect myself now. What difference does it make if I'm twenty-three or seventy-three? I'll still be in the same boat."

"You have an answer for everything," Ororo said sourly. She walked over to the balcony and looked down on her gardens.

"I love him 'Ro. He's all I have until we have kids."

"But he can't marry you," Ororo said as she turned to look at her. "He has no idea what his name is."

"I know that. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me we're married. In our hearts, we already are."

Ororo was running out of arguments. She searched her mind desperately. She had to make Jubilee see that this was wrong.

"I think you envy us," Jubilee said. "I think our success in finding love is a slap in the face for you because you haven't been able to find it yourself."

With that parting shot, Jubilee left the attic.

Was she right? Did she envy Jubilee's relationship with Logan? She had to admit to herself that she hadn't been very lucky in love. The one man she felt she could live the rest of her life with had betrayed her. Since then, she had not been able to trust any man, even her own teammates.

Kurt had been trying to convince her to go out with him for the past year but she had been finding excuses not to go. Maybe she needed to shift her focus from Jubilee's love life to her own.

Her mind was filled with confused thoughts. She did the one thing that always brings her peace and leapt out of the room and flew away.

Spring was coming and Logan was beginning to fidget. Jubilee knew what he needed to do and sent him off to visit the graves of the women who preceded her. She contented herself by keeping Jean company. Scott had been called to Washington to talk with several senators sympathetic to their cause and Jean had been left behind. Her pregnancy had not been going as well as she had hoped. Constant nausea plagued her and made it impossible for her to continue her duties as the spokesman for mutant rights.

Jubilee sat on the sofa in the den, curled against the older woman's side, her hand resting on the slight swelling of her abdomen.

"Can you hear her yet?" Jubilee asked.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Jean asked sleepily.

"Wolvie can smell it."

"Damn," Jean swore. "I wanted to be surprised."

"Sorry," Jubilee said, ducking her head. "I thought you'd know by now."

"It's okay," Jean told her. "I knew. Her mind is definitely feminine. I can't get any real thoughts from her, just feelings."

"Like what?" Jubilee asked, curious.

"Warmth, happiness, things like that. She won't have formed thoughts until around two or three months of age. Until then, it's all instincts."

"It must be nice to connect with your baby on such a deep level," Jubilee sighed.

"Most mothers connect with their babies on some level," Jean told her. "I'm lucky to be able to do it sooner than most."

Jubilee sat there, stroking the little bulge, thinking.

"Have you and Logan discussed children yet?" Jean asked.

"Not yet. I want kids but I'm not sure if he does."

"Well, it's still early in your relationship. There's plenty of time to have children."

"I'm not even sure Hank would let me have a baby," Jubilee told her. "He's not real confident in the graft."

"Oh, Jubilee," she said, wrapping an arm around the younger woman, "I hope you can have children but if you can't, there are plenty of abandoned babies, mutant and human, that you can mother."

They sat there, silently watching some inane game show, each lost in their own thoughts when a large blue form stepped between the TV and them.

"Hey," Jubilee protested. "I'm watching that."

"I need to speak with you, Jubilation," Hank said.

"Okay," she said slowly. She hated when he wanted to talk. He usually had something bad to tell her "Am I not going to like this?"

"If you will accompany me to the lab, I may have a solution to your quandary."

"Ever since I was unable to salvage your femoral artery, I have been searching for a way to repair or replace it and make it strong enough for you to continue your activities as an X-Man," Hank explained as he switched the equipment on in his research lab. "I believe I have found a solution that will repair the artery and it will be as strong, or even stronger, than it was before it was injured."

He brought up the images of two different strands of DNA. "This is your DNA," he said, pointing to the image on the left. He indicated a small section of the strand. "This is your active X factor, where your powers are located on the DNA strand." He moved over to the image on the right. "This is Wolverine's DNA and this is where his active X gene is located. What I am proposing is to splice the X gene from Wolverine into your DNA, effectively giving you his healing factor."

"Is that possible?" she asked.

"I am not sure," he admitted. "Theoretically, it is possible. Everyone has a series of switches in every cell that, when switched on, force the cell to heal or replace itself. Most of the time, the switches are off. In Wolverine's case, they are always on, causing him to replace his cells more frequently."

"Why are they always on?"

"Adamantium poisoning," Hank explained. "He constantly fights the poison leaching from the metal laced to his bones. If it weren't for the adamantium, his injuries in the past would have killed him. His healing factor is on overdrive all the time."

"What's the down side?"

"If you cannot replicate all of your cells at nearly the same rate as Logan, you will develop cancer."

"Are you serious?"

"Cancer is, in effect, a disease affecting the cells ability to replicate itself. Unchecked replication of an individual cell is what cancer essentially is."

"You mean my choice is to die from boredom or from cancer?"

"It may work Jubilee."

"What do I need to do?"

"I will need a bone marrow sample. The best cells to use in this are stem cells. The highest concentration of stem cells is in the marrow."

"Will it hurt?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Can I think about it for a while?" she asked. "I'd like to discuss it with Logan first."

"There is no time constraint with this," he assured her. "It will take some time before I am ready to attempt the procedure and I would like to test my theory first on lab animals. I cannot be ready in any less than six months."

"Let me talk to Logan and I'll let you know."


	7. chapter 7

Second Chances

Chapter 7

Logan spent a month traveling from New York to Canada to Japan. He did this every spring. He visited the graves of Silver Fox in Canada and Mariko in Japan. This time was different. This time, he went to say goodbye to them. He was happy with Jubilee and he felt that they would be happy that he had finally found peace.

In the course of his duties with Alpha Flight and the X-Men, he had left both women for long periods of time. He never before felt the crushing loneliness he felt now being far from the woman he loved. Every mile was like a dagger in his heart. He wanted to go home and never leave again.

He knew that was impossible. He had responsibilities to many people that couldn't be ignored, not the least of which was to Amiko, his adopted daughter. He wondered if she would be willing to leave Japan and come to live with Jubilee and him in America. Well, the question wasn't was Amiko willing to come, but was Yukio willing to let her go? He loved Amiko but he couldn't claim to be anything more than a protector and pocketbook to her. He had left her with Yukio many years ago and the former assassin loved the girl as if she were her own daughter.

He discussed it with Jubilee late one night during a long and hot phone call that started as phone sex. She was very willing to take over raising Amiko but felt that he shouldn't separate her from the only mother she'd ever known. In the end, he asked Yukio first. She had quickly said that it would be a good thing if Amiko went to live with him but Logan could smell the lie and the grief from the lithe assassin. He spent a week with his daughter but left her with Yukio promising to bring Jubilee on his next visit.

Yukio questioned his decision to leave Amiko in Japan and his answer was "She belongs with her mother". He kissed them all goodbye and flew home to the woman who held his heart.

He found her in their room folding laundry. He snaked his arms around her waist and started kissing her neck.

"You're going to have to hurry," she whispered. "My husband will be home any minute."

"Funny," he commented. "Now turn around and give me a proper welcome home."

She turned and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Welcome home, lover," she said, her voice smoky with desire.

Later, as she lay naked and satiated in his arms, she asked him about his conversation with Yukio.

"I love Amiko to death," he told her, "but Yukio is her mom. I can't take her away. It would kill Yukio."

Jubilee felt a stab of disappointment in her chest. She rolled over and climbed onto his chest. "Logan," she asked, "do you want children?"

"From you?" he asked. "God, yes. Every time we make love I hope this time, I'll get ya pregnant. I know it ain't possible as long as yer takin' the pill but I can't help but hope."

"I want kids too," she said laying her head on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. "I talked to Hank about it. He wants me to wait until he's sure about the graft."

"How long?" He began to run his hands up and down her back. His healing factor had kicked in and he was nearly ready for round two.

"He's not sure," she told him. "He thinks the graft may give from the pressure. Evidently, there's a big increase in the amount of blood in the body during pregnancy. He has another option."

"Oh?" he asked surprised. "What is it?"

"He thinks he can splice your healing factor into my DNA." His hands stilled.

"Are ya sure?"

"He's not sure if it will work, but he wants to test his theory."

"On you?" he demanded, lifting her up so he could look into her eyes.

"Not at first," she told him, "he wants to try with a lab rat first."

"And if it works?"

"Then we have a decision to make."

"Why? If it works then why do we hafta make a decision?"

"There's a possibility that it could cause cancer."

He flipped them over and settled his weight on her body. "How much of a chance?" he growled.

"He's not sure," she admitted. "He won't know until he does the tests."

He rolled off of her and got up, pulling on his pants as he went.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"I wanna talk ta Blue," he told her.

"But you just got home," she protested. "I'm not finished with you yet."

"I'll be back," he assured her. "If he's gonna use my DNA, I have a right ta know everythin', and that's what I wanna know; everythin'." He stomped his feet into his boots and grabbed a shirt. "Go get somethin' ta eat. When I'm done talkin' ta Beast, ya ain't leavin' this room fer a coulpa days."

He gave her a quick kiss and left the room.

"Poo," she pouted. "I should have waited until tomorrow to tell him."

She got dressed and wandered down to the kitchen. Jean and Scott were putting together a picnic and were very surprised to see her. They knew Logan had come home and didn't expect to see her for a few days. They watched her as she pulled some leftover fried chicken from the ice box and started to eat.

"Jubilee? Are you alright?" Scott asked.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Why are you asking?"

"We didn't expect to see you for at least two days. Logan's home after all."

"He's talking with Hank about something," she told him sourly.

"He spends an hour with you then goes and talks with Hank?" Jean asked, surprised. "That doesn't sound like him."

"Well," she shrugged, "we started talking about having kids and I told him about Hank's opinion about the graft." She couldn't help herself. She started to cry.

Jean and Scott looked at each other, concerned. Jubilee wasn't one to cry easily. It took a lot to make her show her feelings to the rest of the team.

"Oh sweetie," Jean crooned, enveloping the weeping woman in her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I can't give Wolvie the babies he wants," she wailed. "He told me he wants me to have his babies but Hank told me no."

Jean looked at her husband in panic. She knew that she wasn't the person to comfort Jubilee. Her own pregnancy would come between them. Scott nodded and took Jubilee into his arms.

"You're a wonderful, loving woman, Jubilee," he told her. "Any child would be lucky to have you as a mom. Logan wouldn't object to adoption if you can't have your own."

"How do you know?" she asked tearfully.

"Look at all the children he's taken responsibility for even though they aren't his," he reasoned. "Look at your own childhood. He didn't have to take care of you, but he did. He may not have been a father to you but he made sure you had someone to substitute for one. He made sure you had Sean. Look at Kitty and Amiko. He loves children and he knows the crisis for mutant children in the world today. Please don't cry sweetheart. He loves you, not your ability to reproduce." He looked over her head at his wife. 'Get Logan,' he mouthed. She ran out of the room as fast as she dared.

Logan ran into the kitchen six minutes later followed by Jean less than a minute after him.

"Jubes, what's wrong?" She wiped her eyes and stood with her back to him. She didn't want him to see her cry.

"You two need to talk," Scott told him. He grabbed Jean's arm and the picnic basket and pulled her out of the room.

"Jubes?" Logan said as the door swung shut.

"I'm okay," she sniffed.

"No," he said, "yer not." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Don't shut me out, darlin'."

She turned around and buried her face in his chest. He could smell her fresh tears.

"I can't give you children," she told him, her tears soaking into his shirt. "Hank doesn't think the graft will hold."

His heart contracted in pain. The picture of the baby in his head dissolved to mist. The chances of having the little girl with Jubilee's beautiful features suddenly became remote.

"I won't stop loving you just 'cause you can't have kids," he told her thickly. "There are plenty of kids out there that need a home. We can adopt."

"No, we can't," she told him. "No court is going to give us custody of a kid. We're mutants and you don't know your name. We can't even get married."

He pushed her gently back and looked at her face. "I don't need a piece of paper ta tell me we're married. In my heart, yer already my wife."

"But I want to have children," she whispered, "I want to have your children."

"Oh, baby," he sighed. "I want you ta have my kids too, but not if it's gonna kill ya."

He picked her up, took her back to their room and tenderly made love to her, putting every last ounce of his love into it. When he was finished, they were both in tears.

He held her until she fell asleep. When he was sure she was asleep, he slipped out of the bed and got dressed. He had questions that only Hank could answer.

He met Jean in the upper hall near their room. Now five months pregnant, she was glowing and more beautiful than ever before.

"How is she doing?" she asked.

"Upset," he told her.

"Still?"

"Yeah," he said. "She needs ta grieve. I don't think she's gonna get over this very fast. This one hurt her too bad."

"What about you?" she asked, a slight tilt to her head. "You lost your future children as well."

"I'm hurtin' too Jeannie, but I'm more afraid. I'm scared Jubes'll ignore what Blue says and get pregnant anyway. I can't lose her, I just found her."

"You know what you're going to have to do, don't you?"

"I hafta take charge of birth control, I know." He took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. "If I didn't have this damned healin' factor I could get a vasectomy."

"That's a pretty drastic step for someone who will live as long as you."

"It wouldn't work anyway. I need ta talk ta Hank. Maybe there's somethin' else we can do." He was absently rubbing his chest again.

Jean had seen him doing this almost daily ever since Jubilee was injured. She couldn't understand why. Every time she asked, he would blow her off with some excuse or another. She was becoming very concerned.

"Logan, will you please have Hank look at your chest?" she demanded. "It obviously still bothers you."

"I'm fine," he told her. He had to get away from her before she asked too many questions. He wanted to talk to Hank but not about his still aching chest. "I'll see ya later."

He left her in the upper hall and went to find Hank.

"She should not attempt pregnancy," Hank told him moments later in his research lab. "I am not confident in the graft's ability to handle the increased blood flow that occurs during gestation."

"Can't ya draw off the excess?" Logan asked. "She really wants this."

"The extra blood is there for a reason. She would be supporting the bodily functions of a fetus. Any lowering of the blood volume would compromise the placenta and jeopardize the life of the child. I reiterate Logan, she should not even attempt it."

Logan sighed in defeat. "What 'bout this gene thing?"

"If the gene therapy works, I am not sure I can keep her from conceiving. Oral contraceptives will no longer prevent ovulation."

"So she might end up poppin' out kid after kid?" He was appalled. She would be so busy raising kids that she wouldn't have time for him.

"Not necessarily," Hank said, "I don't know if there is a female with a healing factor but there is the possibility that her body would reject any fetus as foreign. She would suffer miscarriage after miscarriage. I do not think that would be in her best interest, mentally."

"Shit," Logan swore. He sat in the chair beside Hank's desk. "What are we goin' ta do, Hank? I can't let Jubes go through loosin' baby after baby and I can't see her acceptin' not havin' kids at all."

"There is every chance this will work and she will have normal pregnancies," Hank said as he sat at the desk. "If this works, I see no reason you cannot try. We don't know that much about the mechanisms of conception. We don't know why one pregnancy is aborted and another is not. We won't know if Jubilation can gestate successfully until she tries. That is true of any woman."

"So we wait?" he asked, frustrated. Hank couldn't give him any positive assurances.

"Yes, you wait. I don't want her to attempt a pregnancy until I give her the okay. I recommend that you continue using protection for the time being. I also recommend Jubilation be fitted for a diaphragm. It will double your protection. Have Jean give you the number of her obstetrician. I am not qualified to measure and fit her for such a device."

"But she's takin' the pill," Logan objected.

"I am taking her off of all chemicals," Hank told him. "Her system must be completely clean before I will attempt to harvest her bone marrow. Any chemical interference may affect the outcome of the therapy."

"She ain't gonna like that," Logan said as he got up.

"Before you go," Hank stopped him, "I need a blood sample from you."

He sat down again and rolled up his sleeve. He'd do anything for Jubilee, even if it meant he had to sacrifice his arms.

That evening, Jubilee and Jean were in the gym for a light workout; Jean on the treadmill and Jubilee on the balance beam. Jean couldn't help but admire the flexibility of the younger woman. She wasn't that limber even when she wasn't pregnant.

Jubilee had been a world class gymnast before her powers manifested. She might have taken an Olympic gold if it weren't for the fact that mutants weren't allowed to participate in the Olympics. Now, she was too old and too tall to compete against the much younger gymnasts on the amateur circuit today. She still kept in shape. Maybe not in competition shape but good enough shape that she could use her training to augment her fighting skills.

It was Jubilee's athletic skills that Jean was going to rely on now. For the past seven years, the Xavier Institute has held a benefit to raise money for the US Olympic team. The annual ball was to be held in two weeks and she didn't have a formal dress that would fit her now rounded figure. Jubilee had been moping around the house all day and Jean felt a little retail therapy was in order.

She waited until the young woman had dismounted the beam before she brought up the subject of the benefit. From the dismayed surprise on Jubilee's face, she had forgotten about the ball.

"Shit, Jean," she swore, "I don't feel like going to a formal shindig. And besides, I don't have anything to wear."

"You have to go, Jubilee," she told her. "You're our connection to the coaches and all the X-Men who aren't visibly mutated or on security duty have to go."

"But..."

"If I'm going, with my belly entering the room five minutes before I do, you can go too. Make sure you get Logan's tux cleaned."

"You're making Wolvie go too?"

"Of course," she smiled smugly. "Come on, Jubilee, come with us. It'll be worth it just to watch Logan fight with his necktie all night."

For the first time that day, Jubilee grinned. "I'll go," she said, "but you owe me one."

"I'll buy you the dress," Jean promised. "I don't have anything to wear either. Let's get Ororo and go shopping."

"'Ro's still not very happy with me," Jubilee warned her. "She doesn't like me and Logan being together."

"Don't worry," Jean told her confidently. "I'll keep Storm in line."

None of the women were the kind who were comfortable in ruffles and bows, so they ended up going to the city and hitting the boutiques. Storm found a stunning sapphire blue silk gown that was beautiful in it's simplicity and looked wonderful with the regal weather goddess' blue eyes. Jean was able to find a black velvet maternity gown that looked stylish and flattered her growing figure. Jubilee's choice, however, stopped them in their tracks.

It was Chinese red silk with long sleeves and a high neck, at least in the front. The back plunged nearly to an indecent depth. It bared her back from shoulder blade to shoulder blade and from her neck to the dimple just above where her cheeks divided. The fabric clung to her curves, accentuating the swell of her breasts and hips before falling to the floor in a six inch train.

Shoes were next. Jean opted for a pair of black pumps with one inch heals. Her center of gravity was off and she was afraid she would fall if she wore her customary stilts. Storm chose a pair of flat Grecian sandals in silver. Jubilee found a pair of beaded sandals in red that matched the dress.

They stopped at the dry cleaner and dropped off Logan's tux to be cleaned and Jubilee's dress for alterations. A woman as short as she was couldn't buy off the rack without altering the garment. The dress needed to be taken up five inches.

The night of the benefit the entire team, with the exception of Hank and Kurt, checked into the Plaza Hotel for the night. Last year the party went on until early morning. None of them cared to drive back so late this year.

She was sitting at the vanity, applying her make-up as Logan fussed with his tie behind her. No matter how he did it, the damned thing kept turning sideways. Jean was right. It was fun to watch him fight the tie. She finally had enough and jumped up, slapping his hands away from the mangled strip of fabric. She deftly tied the tie and settled it next to his neck.

"Now, leave it alone," she ordered. "If I have to retie your tie more than once, you'll be in a world of hurt."

"Yes, dear," he said, meekly.

She smiled and kissed him thoroughly. His hands reached to untie her robe but she stepped away from him.

"We can't be late," she said, "Cyke'll kill us."

"Let him get his own girl," Logan growled, reaching for her again. "I got mine."

"Behave." Jubilee laughed. "I need to finish my make-up and get dressed." She sat back down and picked up a tiny brush.

He leaned over and nuzzled her neck. "I asked ta keep the room fer a few days," he said, his mouth playing havoc with her heart rate. "We never did have a honeymoon."

"We're not married," she reminded him, moving her head to give him better access.

"Who cares?" he asked. "The honeymoon's more fun anyway."

"Stop it," she hissed. She picked up a bottle of skin lotion and shoved it into his hands. "Here, make yourself useful and put some lotion on my back." She dropped the robe to expose her back.

The sight of the tiny beige thong sent his heart rate into the roof.

"Um, Jubes?" he asked. "Are ya plannin' ta wear underwear?"

"I can't wear a bra with my dress but I have panties on," she said.

"Those ain't panties," he croaked. "Those are play clothes. My kinda play clothes."

"For heavens sake Logan," she said, "they are too panties. All of us wear them now."

"Ya never did before."

"You never let me wear clothes long enough for you to notice what I was wearing. Haven't you wondered what the X-women wear under their uniforms?"

"I figured they wear what you ladies always wear under your clothes; proper underwear."

"Spandex and unstable molecules show every line of our underwear. Most of us wear thongs under our uniforms. Some of us wear nothing. Regular underwear shows when we wear them under our uniforms."

"Ya mean ta tell me ya don't wear anythin' under yer uniform?" he yelled.

"I wear a thong," she told him. "I don't like the feel of unstable molecules next to such sensitive skin. Why the hell are we arguing about this?"

"They ain't decent," he stated. "'specially not on my wife."

A quick swipe of her blush and she was finished with her make-up. She stood and faced him, her expression coldly angry.

"Move," she said.

He stood his ground.

"Move," she told him again, "or so help me Logan, I'll paff you into next week."

He looked into her angry eyes. She was deadly serious. He moved out of her way.

She grabbed her dress from the closet and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

When she came back out, she was wearing the dress. Logan couldn't understand why she had to wear such provocative undergarments. The dress was almost matronly in it's style. The neckline was much higher that he was used to seeing her in and the sleeves went past her wrists. When she turned to grab her small bag, it became very clear.

The thong was barely hidden by back of the dress. He had always loved her back. He thought it was one of the sexiest parts of her body, mainly because it was usually covered.

"God, Jubes," he breathed, "you look incredible."

"Thank you," she said. She still hadn't forgiven him for his cave man attitude.

The elevator ride to the main ballroom was silent. Jubilee was still fuming at him and Logan was trying to find a way of apologizing without saying he was sorry. He still didn't like the thong and he told her so.

"Oh for god's sake," she spat. He heard a rustle of silk and she wriggled against him briefly. The elevator doors opened and he held his hand out to indicate she should go first. As she left the elevator, she slapped his hand. He looked down to find the offending thong hanging off his finger.

"Oh, shit," he whispered. He didn't have to worry about the thong anymore. Jubilee was out there not wearing anything under her dress.


	8. Chapter 8

Second Chances

Chapter 8

Logan could only stare at the tiny scrap of fabric dangling from his finger. The little wench actually called him on it. When he looked up again, she was on the other side of the ballroom talking to a tall man in an Armani tux. He trusted her. She wouldn't betray him, even if she was angry. He kept telling himself that as he stalked across the room. He tucked the thong into his pocket and started to hunt.

He had to admit to himself, she was good. Every time he thought he was getting close enough to grab her, she would slip off to another area of the room. Unattached, and quite a few attached, men followed her around the room like ducks. If the little bit of fabric in his pocket hadn't gotten him so turned on he might have laughed. As it was, he had to go from potted plant to potted plant to hide his throbbing erection. Jubilee was in a crowded room, full of strange men, without panties on! Dammit, if he didn't catch her soon, he was going to start killing.

When he found her again, she was in the middle of the dance floor, dancing with a tall blond man. He looked a little familiar, but Logan couldn't see his face and the mix of perfume and cologne had deadened his nose so he couldn't catch his scent. He growled deep in his throat as he watched the swaying couple. Her partners' hand was drifting down. The further down the man's hand went on her back the lower in pitch Logan's growls became. By the time his hand was resting on Jubilee's left hip, Logan was almost vibrating with the sound.

"If you want to keep your hand," Jubilee said lightly, "you should move it."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"It's great to see you again, Warren, but if you don't move your hand, Wolvie will remove it from your arm."

"What's with you two?" he asked as he quickly raised his had to her waist. "He looks ready to slaughter the entire room."

"We had an argument before we came down," she told him. "I don't want to go into the particulars, but I ended up taking my panties off and handing them to him. He still has them."

His booming laughter filled the room. "Is that why he's looking daggers at my back? He's carrying your panties around with him but he can't get to the goods?"

"Well, yeah," she admitted. "That's about the size of it."

He turned them around so Logan could see his face. "Jubilation Lee, you are so good for this team. You keep us on our toes." He smiled at her lover as the feral recognized her dance partner.

"He loves you, Jubilee." Warren told her. "Don't mess with him too much."

"I love him too, but he needs to learn to trust me." The music ended and the couple separated. "Thanks for the dance."

"It was my pleasure," he replied as he kissed her wrist. "You've grown into a lovely woman, Jubilee. I envy Logan."

Warren Worthington was shoved away by the hoard of hopeful men vying for her attention. Logan didn't join the mass.

The mutant known as Angel fought his way through the press of bodies and found his feral teammate hiding behind a potted ficus.

"You do know that she loves you, right?" Warren asked the swaying branches.

"I know," the tree growled.

"All she wants is for you to trust her."

"I trust _her_," the leaves replied. "I don't trust _them_."

"She's a big girl," Warren said, "and she's hardly helpless."

The tree was silent.

"You still have the panties?"

"She told ya 'bout that?"

"Uh-huh," he grinned. "A word of advice, Logan. Jubilee's a great woman. Don't fuck this up." With this last piece of advice, Warren left the party and went home to his penthouse. He had a hot date.

An hour after they arrived at the party, Logan saw Jubilee disappear into the ladies room with Jean in tow. A large cluster of artificial greenery hid the door from the ballroom. 'Perfect,' he thought. He slipped into the shadows behind the pots and waited.

"What's up with Logan?" Jean asked her as she repaired her make-up. "He looks like he's ready to gut someone."

"He's just horny." Jubilee replied as she reapplied her lip gloss.

"What did you do?" she giggled.

"We had an argument about my panties," Jubilee explained. "He didn't care for the thong I planned to wear with this dress; called them 'indecent'. Well, when he started back in on them in the elevator, I reached under my dress and took 'em off. They're probably in his pocket now. So, here I am, in the middle of a crowded room without underwear on and he knows it. He's probably so hard right now, it's gotten to critical mass."

She looked over at Jean. Her face was bright red with suppressed laughter.

"Just laugh, Jean." Jubilee sighed. "I don't want you to explode. Scott would never forgive me."

Jean burst into laughter. She had to hold on to the sink to keep from falling down she was laughing so hard.. "Oh my god, Jubilee," she gasped. "I don't think I ever laughed so hard or so much before you and Logan got together. First the tampons and now this. Rogue's gonna be sorry she went with Remy to New Orleans." She started laughing again just as hard as she had before. Jubilee had to help her to a chair in the small sitting room off the main bathroom.

"I'm glad my marital woes amuse you, Jean," Jubilee said as she got the older woman a tissue. "Listen, I know it's funny, but this is serious. I have to do something before he kills someone."

"Give him a quickie," Jean advised, still snorting with laughter.

"In a two thousand dollar silk dress?" she demanded. "Are you crazy? The dry cleaning bill alone isn't worth it."

"Take him and leave," Jean told her. "I'll square you with Scott. I think he'd rather excuse you both than explain to the survivors."

"What if he catches us trying to leave?" Jubilee asked. "He'll stop us and Logan will probably kill him."

Jean stood and made her decision. "I'll distract him," she said as she wriggled out of her own underwear.

Jubilee's mouth dropped open in shock. "You wouldn't!" she squeaked.

"If it works for Logan, it will work for Scott," Jean said as she settled her skirt. "Wait until you see us slip away."

"What about your dress?"

"What about it? It's not like I'm going to wear it again. I can't see me wearing this thing again unless I'm pregnant and I'm not about to wear last years fashions, pregnant or not."

She poked her head out of the door and located her husband. "Wish me luck," she whispered as she merged back into the crowd.

Jubilee shook her head and left the bathroom. As she walked by the large potted plant near the door, a black clad arm reached out and grabbed her around the waist, trapping her arms to her sides. A large hand clamped over her mouth, effectively stopping her from calling for help. Bright plasma swirled around her hands as she struggled to break free.

"Settle down Jubes, it's me." Logan's hot breath brushed across her ear. She sagged against him in relief. His hand fell from her mouth and cupped her breast, his thumb and forefinger rolling her nipple. His mouth moved from her ear to the back of her neck, kissing and nipping.

"Hang on, Wolvie," she said. "I have two thousand dollars worth of silk on and you are not going to ruin it. Jean's distracting Cyke so we can sneak out."

"I need ya," he growled. "Now!"

"Jean did the same thing I did and took off her panties," she told him. "Give her a chance to get Cyke out of our way and we can leave. Keep your eye on them and watch his reaction when she tells him."

They watched as Jean made her way across the room and positioned herself beside her husband. She made small talk for a few seconds before she reached up and whispered in his ear. Almost immediately, his face went as red as his glasses. He murmured something out of the side of his mouth which made her smile knowingly and nod. He grabbed her hand and almost ran out of the room.

"Let's go," Jubilee whispered.

They made it to their room in record time. Jubilee was able to get her dress off before Logan popped a claw and cut it off her. His clothes didn't fare as well.

"Did ya say Jean took her panties off?" he asked when he could think again.

"Ya know," Jubilee yawned, "you're kinda dense sometimes." She snuggled against him and drifted off to sleep, knowing he would wake her up in an hour for another round. She didn't mind. This was their last weekend before she started her period and they were going to make the most of it. She will also take her last birth control pill tomorrow morning. After her period was over, they would depend on two thin layers of latex to protect them from pregnancy and the spontaneous sex will end.

They both knew it would be very difficult for them. In the four and a half months they'd been together, they'd only planned sex once. It was nice but not as nice as the sneak attack strategy that defined most of their relationship. She was fairly uninhibited and Logan had no shame at all. As a result, they had 'baptized' most of the public rooms of the mansion and a good number of private areas as well. They even found time to make the Blackbird rock with their activity. The one place where Logan had refused to make love to her was the forest on the grounds of the estate. Not only had it been winter, but he didn't want to have their commingled scent where Creed could find it. Now that it was spring, she could see that he was itching to get her in his natural environment.

They spent most of the weekend making love and sleeping. They came up for air only twice; once to attend a play arranged by Scott and Jean, the other a lavish dinner paid for by Warren Worthington. The play, they stayed for. Both found it excellent and were highly entertained by the actors and the audience. The dinner was abandoned after the third course. They found the food too fussy and the portions much too small. Logan took pity on her rumbling stomach and took her to his favorite diner where she had the best meatloaf she ever tasted.

"How can Warren stand to eat like that?" she asked as she sopped up the gravy on her plate with a slice of bread. "I'd starve to death if I had to eat those tiny scraps all the time."

"His mutation?" Logan shrugged as he sipped his coffee. "Lighter bones and all."

"But birds can eat half their weight every day," she told him. "I don't see how he eats like that and still keeps his weight up."

"Birds also eat suet," he reminded her.

"Gross, Wolvie," she complained.

"I don't care what Fly-Boy eats." he said, dropping a wad of cash on the table. "Let's go."

She waved good-bye to the pretty waitress and stepped out into the chilly night. A stiff wind blew cold air up her skirt making her shiver. She pulled her coat around her tighter and burrowed into Logans side, searching for warmth.

"Ya wanna go back?" he asked as he pulled her against his side.

"Not yet," she told him. "Why don't we find a bar that doesn't serve Cosmopolitans?"

"Are ya sure darlin'? We ain't dressed fer the kinda dives I usually go to when I'm here."

"It's okay, Logan. I'm wearing panties tonight." She could feel the sudden, possessive growl through his coat and smiled.

"Ya almost killed me with that stunt." he rumbled.

"You loved it." she told him. "Best sex you ever had."

"Cain't argue with ya there." he admitted. They walked on in comfortable silence.

One thing was bothering him. "Why'd ya do it?" he asked.

"I love you," she said, "but you have to learn you can't control me. I will never betray you, ever," she emphasized, "but you have to realize that my body is my own. What happens to me is my responsibility, not yours. I know you want to keep me safe but you can't wrap me up and put me on a shelf." She stopped walking and turned to him, her eyes serious. "Share your love with me, don't smother me with it."

He cupped her face in both hands. "I love you," he said quietly.

She smiled. "I know."

He brushed his lips across hers in a series of feathery kiss. "I can't help bein' protective," he said between kisses, "but if I get too overbearin', just tell me. Don't go doin' somethin' like that again. I almost killed Wings."

"If I do, will you listen?" she asked, her breath coming in short gasps.

"If I don't, ya have my permission ta paff me," he told her as he deepened the kisses.

He slipped his hands under her coat and began to fondle her breasts, lovingly.

"You two might want to find a more private spot," an amused voice said from behind Jubilee.

Logan reluctantly lifted his head and glanced over her shoulder. His eyes met the amused eyes of an elderly gentleman in a clerical collar.

"Sorry, Farther," he said. Jubilee's giggles were directed into his chest.

"Have a nice evening," the man smiled.

"Oh, we plan to," Logan told him, grinning. The elderly priest turned and walked away.

"Father?" Jubilee called after him.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned.

"Is it possible for a man who can't remember his name to marry?" She felt Logan's arm tighten around her.

"God knows his name, child," the old priest smiled, "but the State of New York will insist that they know it as well."

Her disappointment must have shown clearly on her face.

The old man walked stiffly back to them. "Do you love this man and wish to marry him?" he asked gently.

"More than anything in the world," she told him.

"And you, sir," he looked at Logan, "do you love this woman and wish to marry her?"

His face was stone but he gave a curt nod. He didn't dare hope.

"Then by the power vested in me by God, I pronounce you husband and wife." He blessed them both with a quick hand.

He took in their shocked expressions. "In the eyes of God, you are married," he told them. "New York will see it differently."

"But," Jubilee sputtered.

"We don't even know yer name," Logan said, his mouth opening and closing. He knew he was giving them a good impression of a fish, but he couldn't help it. He was too shocked.

"Patrick Martin," he told them holding out his hand. "Until ten years ago, I was a Bishop of New York City. No one will be too terribly surprised that I married you. I always was something of a maverick."

Logan shook the hand of the priest, his heart pounding. Was this for real? Did he really marry them? He couldn't form a coherent thought to save his life.

Jubilee threw herself into the arms of the old Bishop and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she sobbed.

"My pleasure," he smiled. "Enjoy the rest of your night." The old man walked off into the darkness.

Logan gathered his crying wife into his arms. "It ain't legal, Jubes," he murmured, "but it sure feels right."

"I never thought this would happen," she sniffed. "I love you."

"Love ya, too," he said. "Let's go celebrate. I know a bar not far from here that ain't too rough. They might even have champaign."

"Yuck," she said, her nose wrinkling. "I hate champaign. Let's get a couple of imports."

"Molsons?" he asked, eagerly.

"Heineken," she said. "It's smoother."

"Yer on, wife," he smiled.

"Shall we go, husband?" she dimpled.

Arm in arm, they laughed their way to the corner bar and spent the evening celebrating their surprise wedding.

"I wanna propose a toast," Logan called in a loud voice over the Saturday night crowd. He held his beer high and waited for silence. "To my bride, Jubilation: The light o' my life."

"Cheers," the crowd roared.

"And," He yelled, "to Patrick Martin, the guy that did the deed fer us tonight."

The crowd remained strangely silent, staring at him in varying degrees of shock.

"What?" he asked.

"Bishop Martin couldn't have married you tonight," the barkeep said, a strange look on his face. "He died over a year ago."


	9. Chpater 9

Second Chances

Chapter 9

They left the bar not long after the bartender told them Rev. Martin had died. Both were badly shaken. Logan walked back to the hotel holding Jubilee's hand, not paying attention to his surroundings. He couldn't understand what happened tonight. The man hadn't smelled of duplicity. He would stake his life on that. When he said that they were married in the eyes of God, he was absolutely not lying. That's not something anyone could hide from his nose. Why the elaborate ruse? Why did someone want them to think they were married? He worked it over in his mind repeatedly. Nothing about this made any kind of sense.

The scent of Jubilee's tears finally broke into his thoughts. He looked over to find tears streaming down her face in an unbroken line. He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her into a shadowy, recessed doorway. Pulling her close, he just held her and stroked her hair. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better. Jubilee really didn't want much in life. She wanted him for her husband, to give him children, and to fight as an X-Man. Five months ago, all that was taken from her. Tonight, a priest had given her hope that she could still have him as her husband and now, that too had been cruelly ripped away from her. No, nothing he could say would make her feel better. All he could do was be there for her, and love her.

He held her, stroking her back and hair, until her sobs subsided. She stepped back out his arms and wiped her face with shaking hands.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "I didn't mean to fall apart on you."

"Ya don't have anythin' ta be sorry fer, darlin'." he told her. "Yer dreams were taken away from ya and yer life has gone outta yer control. Ya have every right ta be upset."

She stepped back into his arms and laid her head on his shoulder. She wasn't crying anymore. He could still smell her sadness and grief but an undertone of anger was coloring her scent now.

"Why are we being picked on, Logan?" Her voice was fairly calm.

"I don' know darlin'," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I can tell ya one thing. That old priest wasn't lyin'. I woulda smelled it."

She looked into his eyes, confused.

"I think we need ta know more about this Bishop Martin. Let's go home tomorrow and see what we can find out about him. He may still be alive."

"Ya think so?" Hope was growing in her eyes.

"Not like we ain't seen it before," he shrugged. "Most of us have been dead at one time or another."

"And we usually come back," she mused.

"Or replaced by a War Skrull."

She frowned fiercely at him. "Don't even joke about that."

He laughed and hugged her tighter. "Wasn't a Skrull," he told her. "He didn't have the stink."

"Whew," she sighed in relief. "I don't think I could deal with them right now."

"Let's go back to the hotel and enjoy one last night in luxury at Cyke's expense," he suggested.

Her eyes twinkled at him. "We haven't tried the bathtub yet," she said saucily.

"Are ya sure, darlin'?" he asked. "I'll understand if ya ain't in the mood."

She leaned in and placed feather light kisses on each of his eyelids before meeting his lips in a fiery kiss that left him no doubt as to what her intentions were. Her lips brushed his ear and a shiver a heat shot to his groin.

"I'm always in the mood for you," she whispered into his ear. She nipped his ear lobe and he moaned.

"Let's go," he begged, his breath coming in short gasps. God, he loved her. All she needed to do was look at him and he got hard. Her lips were on his neck now, biting and kissing. Shit, if she didn't stop soon, he'd nail her in the doorway. His hand floated down to her leg. He traced the inside of her thigh and wandered up. His fingers brushed against her damp curls.

"Ya lied ta me," he growled. His fingertips found the center of her desire and began a slow, maddening rhythm.

"I didn't." she gasped as she undulated against his hand. "They're in my purse."

"When?" he murmured as his mouth lowered to the top of her breasts, his finger slipping inside her.

"Ugh," she grunted. The finger was joined by a second and he began a slow, mind blowing rhythm. "Can we ... Oh God! ... not talk about ... jeez Wolvie!"

He lifted her leg to widen his access, pressing her against the wall of the alcove. "Tell me," he ordered. His thumb brushed across her heated flesh. She moaned as her body convulsed. He knew she was close. His hand stopped moving.

She mewled in protest and writhed against him. "Please!" she gasped.

"Tell me what I wanna know." His thumb flicked against her once and only once. "When?"

She couldn't move. He had her trapped against the wall as his hand played her body. He kept her right at the edge but wouldn't let her fall to completion. She was in agony. "Bar," she gasped, "before the toast. Please Logan, finish it!"

"Ya won't do it again?" he asked as his thumb circled but didn't touch her where she needed it most.

"I promise," she sobbed, desperate for him to continue his maddening assault. He began the rhythm again and shortly, her body spasmed around his fingers, his mouth swallowing her keening cries of pleasure.

He removed his hand and let her sag against him, her knees trembling and her breath coming in short panting gasps. He held her until she stopped shaking.

"That was a dirty trick," she pouted when she could stand on her own.

"I mean it, Jubes," he told her. "I don't like ya goin' out in public without yer panties. There're too many mutts out there that'll think they hit the jackpot if they found ya without 'em. Panties'll give ya time ta paff 'em and get away."

"You're not very confident in my ability to protect myself," she stated angrily.

"I know ya can protect yerself," he said as he pulled her from the doorway and started back to the hotel. "I just want ta give ya time ta castrate the bastard."

"C'mon Logan," she scoffed, "how likely is that to happen?"

"One woman in four is raped in her lifetime, Jubilee," he told her seriously. "Like I said before; shit happens ta us."

She sighed in defeat. She knew she wouldn't win this one. "Alright, Logan. You win. I'll wear proper undergarments from now on but what _I _consider proper, not you."

"Yer gonna _keep_ 'em on, right?"

"I'll keep them on, but if you take 'em off, they stay off." she countered.

"Well, it ain't like we'll get ta do anythin' like this again," he told her. "Blue's takin' ya off the pill so we hafta use more inconvenient birth control."

"I know." she sighed in disappointment. "I hope this works. The first test went pretty well. The rat got your healing factor."

"It also got my claws," he told her. "I don't want ya ta hafta deal with 'em."

"Oh, I don't know," she said as the doorman let them into the lobby, "I think they're kinda sexy."

"Ya like anythin' long and hard," he murmured into her ear.

Jubilee felt herself blush from the top of her head to her toes. She loved when he talked dirty but he chose some of the most inopportune moments to do so. As suggestive remarks go, that one was very tame. He had whispered an incredibly graphic suggestion in her ear at dinner two weeks ago that made her loose her grip on her knife while she was cutting a smoked sausage. The knife had flown out of her hand, landing neatly on Remy's plate. He looked up to see embarrassed arousal on her face and smug satisfaction on Logan's. Remy immediately knew what had happened and the remainder of the dinner conversation consisted of Logan and Remy waxing poetic about the benefits of sausages and hot dogs. Jubilee still couldn't look Remy in the eye without blushing.

The remainder of the weekend consisted of sex, sleeping and room service. They were finally able to do what Logan had been trying to do all weekend; break the bed. It had been creaking all weekend and just after nine the last morning, it gave a final squealing creak and snapped, dropping both of them to the floor. Jubilee was glad she was on top for that one but the sudden jolt sent her into orbit, triggering Logan's orgasm as well. Neither was very happy. They had only been at it for ten minutes. Considering that their sexcapades usually lasted much longer, they felt it was almost premature ejaculation. They decided to move the party to their room at the mansion. Stronger bed.

Hank's second and third attempts were complete when they returned to the mansion. Both rats had accepted the DNA splice at differing rates and both had developed virulent cancers as a result. They were euthanized when it became clear that they wouldn't survive. Logan was appalled that his body could be used to create such horrible diseases. He tried to get Jubilee to ask Hank to stop the experiments but she was adamant that he continue. This was her only chance to become a mother. Rejoining the team had become secondary. She wanted a baby so bad she was willing to sell her soul for the chance.

Logan informed Hank that he was no longer willing to participate in the experiment but, as he found out, his participation wasn't necessary. Logan's blood cells did something that no one else's did; they divided and replicated themselves. All blood cells are born and mature in the bone marrow. Once they have completed development, they do not reproduce as other cells do. They do their job, grow old and die. They are constantly replaced by the marrow in normal humans. In Logan's case, he not only grows new blood cells, but the ones that are circulating in his blood undergo mitosis and split themselves into exact copies of the original cell. He would have two young blood cells where there was once an old, dying cell. When his body doesn't need the extra blood cells, the mitosis slows down. Hank hypothesized that he could remove half of Logan's blood and it would be replaced within two hours by a combination of increased cell production in the marrow and mitosis of the remaining blood cells. On top of that, if the blood were supplied with a steady stream of nutrients, one tube would last for a very long time. He didn't need Logan's participation. He had enough blood to play with for years to come.

Jean was entering her eighth month when Hank finally worked out the kinks in the procedure. Jubilee had taken to leaving the room when Jean entered. The sight of the older woman's bulging belly and her preparations for the impending birth of her daughter was more than Jubilee could stand. They both remained behind when the team was called out but Jubilee couldn't bring herself to cuddle with Jean as she once had. Logan was becoming more and more alarmed as she sunk deeper into depression.

He had stopped making love with her a week ago. She hadn't had an orgasm in almost a month, no matter how hard he tried. He had hoped his news about Patrick Martin would life her spirits but she barely reacted at all. The only thing she said was "That's nice Logan".

The man who had married them on the streets of New York City was indeed Patrick Martin, or an exact copy. He had been an axillary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York for over thirty years. In the last fifteen years of his life, he had become rather wild for a priest. He actively lobbied for a larger role for women in the church, accepted divorced parishioners and baptized illegitimate children in droves. The younger generation adored him. His superiors did not. He had been forced to retire at seventy-five. After his retirement, he had been known to perform marriages and baptisms on the spot, whenever he was asked. His behavior the night they met him was typical. The only problem Logan saw was that the man had indeed died over a year ago.

He finally had to talk to Scott about Jubilee when she refused to get out of bed for two days.

"I'm takin' Jubes ta Canada," he told his leader.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask," Scott told him. "Emma and I talked it over last night. If you didn't say something today, I was going to have her admitted for treatment."

"Ya can't do that, Cyke," he told him, surprised that he would go to such an extreme.

"She's suicidal, Logan," Scott told him gently. "Emma probed her mind last night. She has a plan and she's almost ready to implement it. She needs treatment or we'll loose her."

"Let me take her ta Canada fer a coupla weeks," he begged. "She'll get better, just wait. Jean havin' a baby is killin' her. She just needs some time away from here."

"The problem isn't going to go away, Logan. When she gets back, Jean will still be pregnant and Jubilee won't. She needs treatment."

"Give me two weeks," he asked. "If she ain't gettin' better in two weeks, I'll take her fer treatment."

Scott looked at him appraisingly. He had no doubts about Logan's love for the pretty firecracker. He wondered if he loved her enough to force her to come to terms with what has happened to her in the past seven months.

"Two weeks," he agreed, "and Emma keeps a telepathic ear out for her."

"Why Emma? Why can't Jean do it?"

"Jean's telepathy has been blocked by the baby for the past two months. Emma is familiar with Jubilee's mind and can reopen the link she had with her when she was at the Institute."

"So it's Emma or the nut house," Logan grumbled.

"We can't let her kill herself," Scott told him. "I don't think you'd survive it."

"Ya got that right. We're leavin' in the mornin'." He got up and held his hand out to Scott. Scott stood and shook the older man's hand.

"Take care of her, Logan," Scott said. "She means a lot to all of us."

Logan nodded sharply and left, returning to Jubilee's side.

The team had been so concerned about her mental health that she had not been left alone for two days. Remy was sitting with her when Logan returned to their room.

"Petite's very sad," he remarked in a low voice.

"We're leaving fer Canada tomorrow," Logan said in a low rumble.

"She need more dan ta get away, homme. She need a doctor."

"If she ain't better in two weeks, I'll take her ta see one," Logan told him as he pulled two bags from the closet. "I need ta give her the chance ta come outta this herself."

"Take a badge an' let Remy know how she doin'," he asked.

"I'll keep ya in the loop," Logan promised as he jammed clothing into the bags. Jubilee still hadn't stirred. "Get out, Gumbo. I need some time with my girl."

He stripped out of his clothes and climbed into bed beside Jubilee. He turned on his side and propped himself on his elbow so he could see her face. She had curled herself into a fetal position, her knees almost touching her chin. Hank had taken a bone marrow sample earlier in the week and she still had trouble moving her hip without pain. The pain reliever Hank had prescribed had the side effect of knocking her on her ass. One pill and she was out for four hours.

Logan was still very apprehensive about this. He didn't want to take the chance of loosing her; not to a chancy pregnancy and not to cancer. The greatest danger right now was Jubilee herself. If he couldn't lead her out of her dark depression, she would end up in a mental hospital on drugs. He couldn't stand to see her naturally bubbly personality smothered by antidepressants. He didn't know what he was going to do, but getting away from Jean's nesting had to help.

He pushed a lock of hair away from her face and sighed. "I don't care what anybody says," he whispered, "yer my wife. Ain't nothin' anyone can say is gonna change that."

Her scent had changed so much over the past two months. Gone was the sweet scent of joy that followed her everywhere. Now, she reaked of sadness and pain. Her skin, which always had a healthy glow, was now dull and pale. Her hair, her pride and joy, hung limply down her back. He didn't think she had washed it in a week. She didn't need to kill herself. She was dead already. Her body just didn't know it yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Second Chances

Chapter 10

Logan carried Jubilee to his Jeep the next morning. She had lain in their bed for three days, staring at the ceiling and not blinking much. She refused to look at him at all. He wanted so bad to make this right for her but he couldn't. Cyke and Wings hired lawyers, hoping to find a way that they could get married legally, but all of them had said, "You must have a legal name before you can marry anywhere in the world". He had already asked his contacts in Japan, but they had even tougher laws dealing with marriage. He thought about taking her to Madripoor but it had been so long since he'd been there, there was a chance that the officials he had bribed weren't loyal anymore. He couldn't take the chance she would be attacked.

He spent the first week at the cabin lying in bed with Jubilee and taking care of her. He would bathe her and wash her hair. He always made sure he dressed her in her favorite clothes. He made a ludicrous attempt to apply her make-up. The results were considerably less than ideal. Deciding that Jubilee would rather wear no make-up than look like a clown, he washed it all off again.

Mostly what he did was touch her. He would hold her and stroke every inch of skin he could reach. He wanted her to remain grounded. He hoped his touch would keep her connected to this world and pull her out of the one she had created. It was torture for him. Just because he had stopped making love to her didn't mean he didn't want her. He loved her. Her body would always turn him on but he hated that she didn't react to his lovemaking anymore. It was almost like making love to a dead woman.

He also talked. Every day, he would remind her that he loved her and would never stop, no matter how their lives turned out. He described the birds and animals that wandered by their small nest and he made up stories about them. The only time he felt her react was when he suggested they leave the team and make a life of their own. Her eyes flashed and, once again, went blank but he could smell the trace of anger coming from her. He wasn't sure if it was directed at the X-Men or at him for suggesting they leave. It was, however, the first reaction he got from her in three weeks.

They ran out of food the second week. He couldn't take the time to hunt. Hunting for fresh meat could take as much as three or four days and he couldn't leave her alone that long. He tucked her into bed and removed all the sharp objects from the cabin. He grabbed her bottle of pain killers and tucked it into his pocked before doing one last circuit of the house to make sure there wasn't anything she could hurt herself with. Satisfied that the cabin was safe, he kissed her goodbye and left for town.

Victor Creed is a murderer. He was proud of that fact. He didn't take shit from anyone, _ever. _There was only one person he felt was near his equal: Logan, AKA Wolverine, AKA Weapon X and a host of other, less inspired aliases. Creed hated Logan with a passion even _he_ didn't truly understand. All he understood was that he had made it his mission in life to kill the runty bastard before the SOB killed him. They were well matched. Both were feral mutants with healing factors and foul tempers. Victor's mutation was feline. He was very tall, 6'7", muscular and heavy. He had an animal side that he embraced with both arms. His animal side had kept him alive during his years with Department H and Alpha Flight. But it was the Weapon X program that made him truly love the beast inside him. Without the beast, he would have died.

Unlike Logan, Creed had volunteered for the program. Looking beck, he had to admit to himself that it wasn't the most intelligent decision he ever made. He already knew and loathed Logan by then and the runt had kicked his ass repeatedly. He went to Weapon X looking for an edge.

Logan had been their first and, according to them, their best. It was the reason he was called 'Weapon X'. Logan came out of the program with lightening fast reflexes, a muscle mass that shamed professional body builders, an unbreakable, adamantium laced skeleton and a nifty set of adamantium pig stickers. Creed craved what Logan had been forced to accept.

The Weapon X program had been closed down but not before they had jacked up his reflexes and muscle mass. He did not receive the adamantium bonding procedure. Weapon X had altered several mutants over the years but Logan had been their only real success. The only problem was that they couldn't control him. They had invested billions of dollars in the weapons they had built but none of them worked. Adamantium for Creed just wasn't in the budget, so he was sent away without it. Creed later went back and killed everyone on the base for their insult.

Creed now made it his mission in life to make Logan's life as miserable as possible. Every year, around Logan's birthday, Creed would terrorize Logan's loved ones, most often, Jubilee. He and the runt would trade insults and beat the shit out of each other. Then, they would crawl off to their respective holes, lick their wounds and wait to get better.

The reasons he had for picking on Jubilee would be very familiar to every psychologist who had been in practice for the last century. He wanted what Logan had with her; a partner, sidekick and friend. Victor Creed had no friends. He was a loner by disposition and felt that he didn't need friends. That didn't keep him from being jealous of Logan's easy rapport with the tiny Asian frail.

He both hated and admired her. He hated that she could so easily control a feral much like himself. He also admired her for being able to control a feral. He really admired her for standing up to him every time he attacked her. Individually, he believed that he could take the X-Men. The only one he wasn't sure of was Jubilee. She was unpredictable and very well trained. He thought that she wouldn't hesitate to kill him if she had the opportunity. That made her more dangerous than all of them.

Still, he wanted her. Not sexually. His tastes ran to taller, more sturdy women. No, he wanted her for what she did for Logan; to tame his animal side. He didn't have the patience to make his own friend so he had decided to take the runt's.

He had sniffed around the X-mansion briefly last week. They had been there but were gone now. Several of his connections on the main drag to Canada had informed him that the runt had passed by about ten days ago. He figured they were going to the cabin. Perfect. He could grab the kid and kill the runt at the same time.

He left his Jeep well off the road and approached the cabin from the downwind side. It wouldn't do to alert his prey too early. He took a deep sniff. Logan wasn't in. The kid was there but her scent was different. The runt must have finally given in and fucked the frail. Her scent was now the one of a mature woman. There was something wrong with her scent. He couldn't quite place it but it was familiar. He needed to get in closer and find out what it was.

He crept around the back of the cabin to the bedroom window. 'What the hell?' he thought as he sniffed the air wafting out of the open window. Sadness and pain were predominate, but the undertone was one of death. He carefully looked through the window. The little frail was lying on the bed, not moving. An amber plastic bottle was on the floor beside the bed, the top off and several white pills strewn from it. Her heartbeat was slow and her breathing, shallow. Her skin was very pale. Her eyes were sunken and ringed with dark smudges. Creed found that he was growling.

"What the fuck did ya do, frail?" he growled as he climbed through the window.

He grabbed the bottle from the floor and read the label. MS Contin. There were five of them on the floor. How many had been in the bottle in the first place? He leaned over and sniffed her breath. The scent of narcotics made him pull back sharply.

"Kid!" he yelled, slapping her face. "How many of those things did ya take?"

She moaned softly as he slapped her again.

"How many?" he roared. Her eyes opened. Her pupils were widely dilated. She looked at him without recognition.

"Shit!" he swore as her eyes rolled up into her head.

He ran for the kitchen and grabbed a pot and a spoon. He needed to force her to vomit the pills back up. Unfortunately, he had talons and would slice up her throat if he stuck his finger down it. The spoon would have to do.

He returned to the bedroom and flipped her roughly onto her side and pulled her to the edge of the bed, positioning the pot on the floor below her head. Wrenching open her mouth, he jammed the butt of the spoon deep into her mouth. The results were immediate. She started to bring up her stomach contents, violently.

She heaved for five minutes after she emptied her stomach. Creed was able to count fifteen small white pills in the mess she vomited. Plenty to have killed her. She was serious about this.

He waited until her stomach had stopped contracting before hauling her out of bed and dragging her around the room. Her heart rate was much stronger and she was taking deeper breaths but she still wasn't out of the woods yet.

"I can't believe ya'd do somethin' this stupid, frail," he growled as he forced her to walk. "What the fuck did ya think ya were goin' ta accomplish?" he demanded. "I can smell that the runt's had ya already so why do somethin' so fucking stupid? Ya got what ya wanted. Is he such a bad a fuck that ya had ta opt out ferever? Ya ain't pregnant, so why?" Her feet were beginning to move on their own. He continued his tirade. "This sure as shit ain't like ya ta take the cowards way out. If ya wanted ta die, I coulda helped ya out. Ya coulda asked me first. Ya didn't need ta do somthin' like this."

He had been walking her around the room, swearing and yelling at her for nearly an hour. His voice had finally begun to penetrate the fog that clouded Jubilee's mind. It was irritating as hell. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Will you just shut the fuck up, Creed?" she demanded weakly.

He grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her. "Why?" he demanded.

"I got my reasons," she mumbled.

"Shit, Jubilee," he thundered. "Ain't no reason ta try ta commit suicide."

"Maybe I have a good reason," she whispered.

"Never," he growled. "I ain't gonna argue with ya 'bout this. Ya try it again, and I'll kill ya."

'Snickt.'

"Get away from her, Creed," Logan growled from the door.

"What the hell have ya been doin' ta her, runt?" Creed demanded, pulling Jubilee, hard, against his side.

"Let go of her and back away." His growl deepened, the threat becoming more serious.

"If I let go, the frail'll fall down," Creed growled himself. "She tried ta kill herself. Can't ya smell it?"

Wolverine had been concentrating so hard on Creed and Jubilee that he had been ignoring the scents in the room. He allowed his mind to pay attention now. He could smell it now: Her pain medication. She must have gotten another bottle from Hank before they left.

"How many did she take?" he asked, his voice thick.

"Fifteen," Creed told him. "What the fuck did ya do ta her ta make her want ta die?"

"I ain't done nothin' ta her," Logan growled. "I've been tryin' ta marry her fer the past six months. Come here, Jubes. Let me see yer eyes."

She stumbled out of Creeds arms and made her shaky way to Logan. He retracted his claws and caught her before she fell. He tipped her head up and looked into her eyes. Her pupils were sluggish, but reacting. She was out of danger now and it was safe to let her sleep off the drugs. He lifted her into his arms and rubbed his cheek against her hair. He would have to mark her again after he got rid of Creed. He growled dangerously at Creed who growled back, but moved to the other side of the room as Logan took her back to the bed and tucked her in.

Kissing the top of her head, he turned and growled at Creed again. Victor understood what the growl meant and left the room.

Logan was closing the door as Creed was leaving the cabin. "Thanks," Logan said reluctantly. He hated having to be in debt to his enemies.

"Why'd she do it?" Creed asked. "I never thought I'd see the day when a woman as strong as Jubilee'd try ta kill herself."

"Why do ya wanna know?" Logan asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Believe it 'er not, I like the frail," Creed said, a surprised look on his face. He wasn't surprised that he liked the kid but more that he'd admit it to the runt.

Logan debated with himself. Creed had saved Jubilee's life. He owed the furball an explanation.

"Seven months ago, she was hurt, bad," he told him. "Blue told her she can't have kids. I think she'd accept it if it wasn't that Jeannie got pregnant. Seein' her swellin' up with a baby is more than Jubilee can stand. That, and I can't marry her 'cause I don't know who I am."

Creed nodded in understanding. All of the ex-Weapon X experiments had been mind wiped. "Ya love her?" Creed demanded.

"What do ya care?"

"I told ya, I like the frail. I don't wanna see her hurt."

His scent told Logan that he was telling the truth. "Yeah, I love her," he said.

"Good," Creed said as he walked toward the road. "That don't mean I ain't gonna try ta kill ya. She'll hafta understand; I don't like _you_."

He watched as the taller man walked down to the road. Logan saw him stop and turn back to the cabin. "I'll leave ya alone until she's better, but if I find out she did it ta get away from ya, ain't nothin' she can say'll keep me from guttin' ya." he called before he turned again and loped into the trees.

Logan returned to the cabin and closed the door. The scent of vomit and drugs was overpowering. He checked on Jubilee and started cleaning up the bedroom. It took him three hours to get the smell down to where he could tolerate it. He cooked a light dinner of soup and bread and went again to check on his lover. She was beginning to stir. He sat on the side of the bed and waited.

He knew exactly when she woke up. He could hear the change in her breathing. She didn't speak until he forced her to.

"I know yer awake, Jubilee," he said.

She opened her eyes and looked at him for the first time in weeks. "Are ya hungry?" he asked her. She nodded slightly. He lifted a bowl of soup from the table and began to spoon the rich broth into her mouth. He didn't speak until she had finished.

"We need ta talk, darlin'," he told her. He pulled a washcloth from the drawer next to the bed and dipped it into the water he had placed beside the bed earlier. It was still warm. He gently began to wash her face and hands. When he was done, he dropped the rag in the water and took her hands in his own.

"Why, Jubes?" he asked, "Do ya hate me so much that ya'd leave me alone fer the rest of my life?"

"You wouldn't be alone for long," she whispered. "You'd find someone who can give you children and can fight. I can't."

"Ya don't know much about ferals, darlin'. We form a primitive bond with our mates. We mate fer life. When ya die, I'll be alone till I die."

"But you've had sex with lots of women," she said, her voice very weak.

"I never bonded with any of them except Mariko," he told her, "and now, you. Ya saw what Mariko's death did ta me, and the bond is much stronger with you than it was with her."

Her eyes glazed over with tears. "I never wanted to hurt you," she whimpered. "I just wanted you to have what I couldn't give you."

He gathered her into his arms and held her as she wept. "All I want is you," he told her. "Yer the best thing that ever happened ta me. I even let Creed walk outta here 'cause of ya."

"Creed?"

"He saved yer life, darlin'. We owe him."

"He was the one dragging me around the room?"

"Uh-huh," he confirmed. "He found ya on the bed and made ya vomit the pills. If he hadn't been here, ya woulda died."

"Why didn't he let me die of kill me?"

"Strange thing," Logan said, amused, "he likes ya. He was pissed at me 'cause yer depressed."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Logan smiled. "Found him walkin' ya around the room and snarlin' at ya fer doin' somethin' so stupid. Said if ya try it again, he'd kill ya."

"That makes a lot of sense," she said, her voice colored with sarcasm.

"A rocket scientist, he ain't." Logan agreed.

"If you can't say anything nice about someone, it's best not to say anything at all," a voice said from the door.

Logan was off the bed, crouched in a low attack stance, before Jubilee could blink. She looked over to the door and was shocked to see a very familiar face.

"Reverend Martin?" she gasped.

"I don't know who the hell ya are, bub, but Patrick Martin died two years ago," snarled Wolverine. Jubilee could almost see his hackles rising. He was angry and in full protective mode.

The apparition that was Bishop Martin walked further into the room. Wolverine growled at him in warning.

"Settle down, young man," he said as he walked toward the bed. "I will not harm you or your lovely wife."

Jubilee saw the muscles of his back tense just before popped his claws and leapt at the old man. To her surprise, Logan passed through the body of the bishop without harming him. Only his cat-like reflexes prevented him from slamming face first into the opposite wall.

He sheathed his claws in time to hit the wall with his hands, push off, flip in the air and land, crouched, on the floor. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the old man was now between him and Jubilee.

Jubilee's heart leapt when she saw what was happening. Patrick Martin was approaching the bed and Wolvie was going feral. She had to stop it. She couldn't let him go. She didn't have the strength to bring him back. A swirling ball of blue and pink plasma appeared in her outstretched hand when she called her powers. Taking careful aim, she released the plasma and sent it on its way.

The hot plasma passed through Bishop Martin and hit Wolverine on the left shoulder, knocking him off his feet and into the wall. She climbed out of the bed and wobbled across the room. Her knees gave out just as she reached Logan's feet. He was quick enough to keep her head from crashing to the floor.

"Jubilee!" he cried as he pulled her to his chest. He quickly looked her over. She wasn't injured but she was exhausted and still had the drugs in her system. He looked angrily at Martin. "What do ya want?" he demanded.

"Only to talk," Martin said. "I know you and your wife have questions and I want to answer them. I won't hurt either of you." He moved away from the bed and sat in the rocking char near the window.

Logan picked her up and took her back to the bed. Placing her carefully on the far side of the bed, he positioned himself between Martin and Jubilee. He stood facing the old man and began to growl softly.

"Stop it Wolvie," she admonished weakly. "I think I know what he is." She turned to her side and wriggled around so she could see their visitor. "You're not a mutant or a ghost, are you?" she asked, more a statement than a question.

"No, child, I'm not."

She pinched Logan on the leg. "Move," she ordered. He glanced down at her in surprise. "He won't hurt us," she assured him.

"How can you know that?" he hissed.

"Because he's an angel," she told him. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"I'm not an angel," Martin told her. "I'm something all together different. I'm not allowed to explain but please be assured, I cannot hurt you in any way."

"Ya already hurt her when we found out ya were dead," Logan told him.

"Yes, well," he cleared his throat. "I could have handled that differently. Please, sit and I will answer your questions. But first." he looked Jubilee directly in the eye. "You almost did something totally unforgivable, young lady."

She ducked her head behind Logan's leg. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice.

"It's not me you should apologize to," he told her. "You owe your husband an apology, and a promise."

She looked up at him, her apology in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Logan. I won't ever do anything like that again."

He ran a rough finger down her cheek. She reached up and grabbed his hand in hers. She turned it, palm to her, and kissed his hand. He pulled her lower lip down slightly with his thumb before dropping his hand to his side. He looked back at the old man and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He wouldn't let his guard down yet but he would listen and ask his questions.

"Who are ya?" he asked as he lowered his bulk next to Jubilee.

"As I've told you before, I am Patrick Martin. Until ten years ago, I was a bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and not well liked among my peers."

"But you've been dead for two years," she objected.

"Two years, July 8th," he confirmed.

"But how? Or better yet, why?" she asked.

"How, you would not understand," he told her. "It's a matter of faith. Why, I can tell you. It was decided that you two need an advocate."

"An advocate?" Logan asked. "Why?"

"Your lives have been torn apart by one horrible incident. Had it not happened, your wife would still be fighting the good fight and possibly awaiting the birth of your first child. The first obstacle you needed to overcome was the fact that a group of unscrupulous men took your name from you. I can't help you to learn it. That is a decision that must come from further up, but I could allow you the pleasure of marrying the woman you loved."

"But we're not married," Jubilee protested. "Not legally."

"Nothing can can be more powerful than the will of God," he said. "In His eyes, you are indeed, married. There is nothing man can do that can change that."

"But our children will be illegitimate," Jubilee said.

"Illegitimacy is a human concept. All children are born for a purpose, and all children are loved."

"Will we have kids?" Logan asked hopefully. "Blue doesn't want her ta try."

"Have faith in your teammate," he told them. "He's a highly intelligent man."

"Ya mean it'll work?"

"I didn't say that. He came up with the idea and the work is his own. We haven't influenced him or interfered. I only mean that you need to have faith in him."

"So it'll work or it won't," Jubilee said.

"There are no guarantees in life," he agreed.

"'Cept death," Logan murmured.

"Not necessarily," Martin said. "You, yourself, have seen many people come back from the dead."

"He's got you there, Wolvie." Jubilee said.

Logan grunted in agreement.

"What will happen to Wolvie after I die?" she asked, concerned. "The only reason I ask is that we've bonded and loosing his lifemate will be hard on him."

"Loosing his lifemate with the bond you two have developed may kill him, but the future hasn't been written. Nothing is in stone until it has happened."

"If I die, will Jubes die, too?" Logan reluctantly asked.

"Yes," Martin said. "She is not feral, but the bond has linked her to you so strongly that she is dependent on your life force to live."

"But the bond is only six months old," Logan told him.

"No, it's not," he said. "The bond was present in both of you at your birth. Haven't you ever wondered why she helped you in Australia? She was already bonded to you. The bond became unbreakable when she was in her late teens. You became aware of it only after you admitted to yourself you love her."

Logan rocked back slightly in surprise. "She's my soulmate?" he croaked.

"She's your destiny," Martin corrected.


	11. Chapter 11

Second Chances

Chapter 11

Martin stopped answering questions after that startling statement. They both watched as the body of the old priest faded and disappeared.

Jubilee laid in his arms, playing with the chest hairs that peeked over the top of his shirt.

"Are ya feelin' better?" She heard him rumble through his chest.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

His arms tightened around her. "I love ya, Jubes. I don't care if we have kids or get married legally or stay with the X-Men. I've been crucified, had my adamantium ripped out o' my body and put back in, burned alive a bunch a times but the worst torture I can every think of is if ya leave me. I need ya. I don't know if I can die of a broken heart but I'll find out if ya leave."

She thought about it for a while. He was the strongest man she ever knew. He could lift a car and not break a sweat. He could take a whole clip of bullets and the only thing that would happen would be that he would get angry and kill the shooter. He could ski but not swim. He could dance like Fred Astaire. He could hunt down a person by scent alone. And he was the most emotionally dependent man she knew. The one thing he couldn't do was be alone for long periods of time when he was not in a feral state.

Logan was what most people called a social misfit. He needed other people around him to truly feel alive. If you looked at his behavior closely, you notice that he seeks out crowds of people who have habits like his own. His favorite bar is a dive near the school that is frequented by some of the roughest people in the area. He prefers the company of mutants but has friends that are human. He doesn't make friends easily, but the ones he has are loyal to him and he to them. He can be very bold and very shy at the same time. He craves recognition for his deeds but is embarrassed when people mention them or thank him. A very small number of people know he has a softer side, fewer have ever seen it, and a very select few have been on the receiving end of it. And the only person he has ever felt secure enough to cry in front of, is Jubilee.

She always knew that he needed her to complete him. It was the same with her. All during her years at the Xavier Academy, she could sense him. She knew when he needed her or when he was in trouble, but the opposite didn't appear to be true. He found her when she freed herself from the Hulkbuster base but he hadn't been aware that she had even been taken. He didn't feel that she needed him after she returned to school, but then, she had smothered those needs with a vengeance. He didn't know she was missing from her home in LA until she showed up, crucified, on the front lawn of the mansion. He felt so guilty after that one that he not only found the people responsible, but he helped her deal with the physical pain of the torture and the emotional pain of the death of her friend, Angelo. It was during that time that she knew she still loved him and was unlikely to fall out of love.

"When did you know you loved me?" she asked.

"I loved ya when ya dragged my sorry ass to that bunker in Australia," he told her.

"I was a kid, Wolvie," she admonished. "When did you know you, ya know, loved me?"

"I know," he said. "Ya were seventeen and ya were goin' out on a date with some dweeb, I can't remember his name. The only thing I could think of was that ya were mine and he had no right to butt in. Ya was wearin' this short black thing ya called a dress and I found myself reactin' to ya. I felt like a dirty old man. Ya were a kid and I was gettin' a hard on just lookin' at ya. If ya remember, I left that night."

"I remember," she scowled. "You should have stuck around. You would have seen Cyke deck the guy for trying to feel me up at the door when we got home."

"He tried somethin'?" he growled.

"You ran out. He didn't get the usual pre-date threat," she told him. "He didn't know that to try anything was to invite a slow, agonizing death."

"Cyke or Gumbo kill 'em?" He was still growling. Jubilee could feel the rumble in his chest.

"Broken jaw," she told him. "He never came back but that's okay. He kissed like a damned fish."

The growling deepened. The vibrations were becoming a little painful to the shoulder resting against his chest.

"It's never going to happen again," she informed him, petting his chest with a soft hand. "I'm yours now."

The growls lessened and stopped as he brought himself under control.

"I swear, I gonna find a way ta marry ya legally so I can kill any bastard that tries anythin' with ya."

"It that the only reason you want to marry me?" she frowned.

"Hell no," he exploded. "If ya remember from the library when we caught Jean and Cyke, married sex can be very hot."

Jubilee blushed as she remembered the day she had been trapped in the library while Jean and Scott had some very wild sex in the stacks. If Logan hadn't smelled her arousal and come looking for her, she would have been miserable for hours.

"Jean knew we were there," she told him.

"Oh?" he asked.

"They finished first," she reminded him. "She popped into my mind, telling me we could scream all we wanted because she had Scott's hearing turned off. Didn't you wonder why I let you howl as much as you did?"

"I hafta admit, I did," he said, chagrined.

"Jean liked having someone watching and getting turned on. She invited us to join them one day but I turned her down."

"Why?" He was curious but he was glad she turned down the offer. He didn't want to share her with anyone.

"Scott doesn't do it for me and I don't want you anywhere near Jean without your clothes on."

"Jealous much?" he teased.

"Possessive," she corrected. "I don't share my toys."

She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her nose in his chest. He always smelled so good to her. Even when he was sweaty from a workout, the sharp scent of him was comforting and comfortable. She knew all of his scents now, even the nasty ones. She could almost tell what he was thinking by his scent alone. Not as well as he could, she wasn't feral, but she did know her man. She never realized how different each man smelled until she started sleeping with him.

His scent now told her that he wanted her, but not so much that he would try to convince her to have sex if she wasn't ready to resume their conjugal relationship. She wasn't sure she was ready yet. They still had some problems that they needed to work out.

"Logan," she yawned, "I need to sleep off the rest of the drugs but we have a lot of things we need to talk about. I know Emma's keeping her mind on me and she'll be here soon but I'm not ready to go back yet. If she gets here before I wake up, will you tell her I'm okay and we need to stay a while longer?"

"Sure, darlin'," he told her. He kissed her and slid out from under her. She slipped under the blankets and settled in to sleep. He watched her until he was sure she was asleep.

Less than a hour later, the sound of a helicopter broke the silence of the forest. 'Emma's here,' he thought. 'Better get this over with.'

The Frost Industries helicopter had set down in the clearing near the road. The White Queen was marching up to the house, a determined frown on her face. Logan had to shake his head. She was dressed in a leather bustier, tight leather pants and a cape, all in white. She wore white leather stiletto boots that kept sinking into the soft soil. He couldn't understand why she didn't change to more appropriate clothing for a trek to the wilds of Canada.

"Where is she?" Emma snarled as she approached him.

"Hold on, Frost," he said, blocking the door with his arm. "She's fine. She's sleepin' it off now."

"Get out of my way," she said in a low, angry voice

"Ya ain't goin' in there radiatin' anger like ya are. She's fine now."

"I'll be the judge of that." she snapped at him as she ducked under his arm in a quick move and slipped into the cabin. Her mouth twisted in distaste as she took in the shabby furnishings of the small room.

"You keep my student in such squalor," she sneered.

"She ain't yer student any more, Emma," Logan's voice was hard. "she's my wife."

Emma sighed, frustrated. She knew she needed to be careful. Wolverine didn't like her and she didn't believe he would hold off killing her if she came between them. The last part of his statement broke through the anger in her mind.

"Wait a minute," she said slowly. "What do you mean 'wife'? Did you marry her?"

"We ain't married in the legal sense but, yeah, I married her."

"Why?" she demanded.

"What the hell do ya mean 'why'?"

"Why did you marry her?" she asked, her eyes hard. "The whole time she was growing up, you deserted her, repeatedly, and I was left to pick up the pieces. You kept telling her it was because you couldn't protect her from your enemies. Now, she can't protect herself without the real possibility of getting herself killed. She's useless to the team and she can't give you children. Why did you marry her? It's a fair question, Wolverine."

"I love her, Emma," he told her. "I can protect her."

"You didn't protect her from this," she growled at him. "She still tried to kill herself."

"If someone wants ta die, their gonna find a way. One of the things we agreed on was that I wouldn't smother her." He lead her over to the sofa and sat her down before lowering himself into his favorite chair. "I love her, Em. We've bonded."

"Bonded?" she asked, surprised. "Like Jean and Scott?"

"Deeper," he told her. "Our bond is of our life forces. My life depends on hers and hers depends on mine."

Shock bloomed on her face. "You mean if you die, she will too?" He nodded. "Oh my God, Logan, you're an X-Man! You could die tomorrow!"

He ran his fingers through his hair, distressed. "I know, Emma. If I could make it different, I would. Ferals bond with their mates."

"Didn't you know it would be this strong?"

"Of course I didn't," he said testily. "Ya think I want this fer her? It wasn't this strong with Mariko."

Emma sat thinking and tapping a manicured fingernail on the arm of the sofa.

"If she had been successful," she said thoughtfully.

"I woulda probably died on the road back from town," he confirmed.

"Why wasn't she?"

Logan snorted. "Creed," he told her.

"What?" she shrieked.

"I came in and found him walkin' her around the bedroom," Logan said. "He'd already made her vomit the pills back up and was tryin' ta keep her awake, swearing ta kill her if she tried again."

"You're kidding!" She was having trouble wrapping her mind around the concept of Sabretooth saving the life of his greatest enemy's lover.

"I'm havin' problems with it myself," he admitted. "He says he likes her. Threatened ta kill me if she was tryin' ta kill herself ta get away from me."

She snorted in agreement. She's do the same thing.

She sighed and stood. "I'm just going to peek in on her. Will you return to the mansion now?"

"Me and Jubes have some problems we need ta work out first. Will ya tell everyone she's okay?"

"I'll tell them," she said. She walked to the bedroom door and opened it quietly. She looked in to find Jubilee asleep, her mind quiet but open. Emma could see the black cloud was receding and the depression along with it. She was very reassured by the restabilization of the younger woman's mind. Her dreams were quietly erotic, which was normal for a young, sexually active woman.

She closed the door with a soft click and walked back to Logan.

"I have never liked you," she told him, "but Jubilee loves you. As long as you love and protect _her_, I will try to get along with you, for Jubilee's sake."

He nodded in agreement. "And I'll stop callin' ya 'the frigid bitch'." he told her.

"You'll never get the chance to find out if that's true or not," she smirked. "If I am right, and I usually am, you'll be impotent with other women from now on."

She left the cabin laughing softly at the outraged anger on his face. He returned to Jubilee vowing to take down the White Queen the first chance he got.

"I heard that," Jubilee said as he came back into the bedroom.

He froze in his tracks. "What did ya hear?" he asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

"What Frosty said," she giggled. "I guess I don't hafta worry about you cheating on me."

"Jubilee," he growled in warning.

"Well, it's comforting to know that you won't be able to get it up for another woman. She didn't, however, say another man."

"No, she didn't," he agreed, a twinkle in his eye.

"Wolvie!" she gasped.

The look of shocked outrage did him in. He laughed long and hard. It was so good to hear her tease him that he couldn't get angry with her for questioning his sexuality.

"But... have you... I mean... Wolvie?" she sputtered as the bed shook when he sat down next to her.

"I've done a lot of thing in my life, but never that," he informed her, still laughing.

"Whew! For a moment there, I though someone was gonna take away my favorite candy."

He gathered her into his arms and rolled to his back, placing her gently on his chest. "No one's gonna take me away from ya," he promised. "And no one's gonna take ya away from me. I believe what that angel or ghost or whatever he was, said. We're bonded fer life."

"We still have problems, Logan," she reminded him.

"Course we got problems. Ya put two people as strong as us together, yer bound ta have problems, but that don't mean we can't work them out."

"Will we?" she asked.

"Sure," he told her. "As long as we talk ta each other, we can work things out."

She rolled off of him and sat, cross legged, at his side. "Okay." She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Hank's experiment." He opened his mouth to protest. She held up her hand to stop his objections. "I know you don't like it, Logan but hear me out."

He didn't want to discuss the experiment Hank McCoy was conducting with his and Jubilee's cells. The results haven't been promising by what he saw. It couldn't hurt to hear her out. She had been working closer with Hank than him and knew more about it than he did.

"Okay, darlin'," he said, "I'll listen."

"Hank thinks it will work. You only saw the early results, the ones that died or had some of your unwanted traits but you didn't see the last sixteen tests. He's found a way to isolate the section on the rat DNA that controls cell regeneration and the one on yours that controls healing. None of the last twenty test subjects have developed claws or needed to be put down."

"And the cancer?"

"That's still a possibility but he thinks it will be around ten percent."

"Does he have any way ta lower those odds?"

"I don't know. He was working on that when I got too sick to help him anymore."

"Jubes," he began. He still didn't like it. She could still die.

"Please, Wolvie." Her eyes pleaded for him to understand. "I can't live like this anymore. I can't stay home and watch Jean get ready for her baby. I can't sit there and watch the team leave, over and over. I used to be an X-Man. A fighter. A member of the team. Now, they won't even talk to me about a mission unless it's over, and even then, they won't give me details. It's almost like they think I'm a spy or something. I used to be one of them. Now, I'm on the outside looking in. I've lost who I am."

The pain in her voice tore at his heart. He hadn't realized that they had excluded her to such a degree.

"What about Rogue's idea?" he asked. "We could move out."

"I didn't like it the first time you mentioned it and I don't like it now," she insisted. "I may not be an X-Man anymore but you are. The team needs you. Any delay getting to a fight could cost someone their life, maybe one of our friends. We need to stay in the mansion."

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder. "Not if it hurts ya every time the team responds. I don't like seein' ya hurt. This is the one thing I can't control. If ya still want kids, we can hire a woman ta have our babies. People do it all the time. Ya won't hafta grind yer teeth every time Jean coos about her baby. But I can't make it any easier fer ya ta watch the team leave without ya."

As soon as he mentioned surrogacy, her eyes widened in surprise. They'd never talked about it before. She had been afraid to bring up the subject, knowing his distrust of strangers.

"You'd let another woman have our kids?" she asked, incredulous.

"Not my first choice," he admitted, "but if ya want kids, that may be the only way. I'd let someone else hatch fer us as long as she stays with us so I can protect her and the baby."

"She'd have to be a mutant," Jubilee mused.

"Not necessarily," he told her. "I talked ta Hank about it a long time ago. He said that it probably shouldn't be a mutant. Her own mutation may interfere with the development of the kid's own mutation since it wouldn't be genetically related to her." He was proud of himself for remembering all that. He hadn't really understood what Hank had meant but he could parrot with the best of them.

"You talked to Hank about surrogacy, before talking to me?" she demanded. Uh-oh.

"I didn't want ta get yer hopes up if it weren't possible," he told her.

"And if it wasn't possible, were you going to tell me?" He could tell she was getting angry. He realized now that he had done something stupid. He should have talked to her first.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Jubes."

"For what?" she seethed. "For talking to Hank before talking to me or not telling me what he said a long time ago?"

"Both," he told her. "I shoulda told you as soon as we talked but I shoulda asked ya first."

She crawled over him and began to pace the bedroom in angry, lurching steps. The only thing she wore was his green flannel shirt and her long, shapely legs kept drawing his eyes. He felt the rise in his groin that always accompanied the sight of her naked legs. He couldn't help himself. Jubilee was a beautiful woman all the time but when she was angry, she was magnificent.

'Get yer mind off it,' he told himself. 'She's mad at ya and fer good reason. Ya also forgot ta bring her diaphragm.'

"I can't believe you," she ranted. "First, you and Rogue decide that I need a house and you go and look for one without my input. Then, you and Hank decide that another woman will have my children and you don't ask if it's okay with me. I understand that you want me to be happy but has it ever occurred to you to ask me what_ I_ want? Don't you think that major decisions like a house and kids should involve both of us? Were there any other decisions you've made to change my life that you haven't told me about?"

"There was one thing," he admitted. Her eyes flashed in anger. "Not a decision, darlin'," he told her quickly, "just somethin' Hank said that ya should know."

She stopped pacing and crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"After ya told me that Hank told ya not ta get pregnant, I asked him what would happen if the experiment worked. He said that the pill probably won't work fer ya anymore and ya might have trouble _keeping_ from getting pregnant. I was concerned that ya'd pop out kid after kid. That ain't healthy fer a woman. Hank was concerned that ya'd have miscarriage after miscarriage. He thinks yer body may decide a baby is like a virus and reject it."

"I'm glad you told me this before I got pregnant," She told him bitingly. "Honestly, Logan, you say you love me but you treat me like I'm thirteen. I'm grown up now. Quit trying to shield me from the ugly things in life. I can handle it."

She moved over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Marriage isn't a dictatorship, Logan, it's an exercise in negotiation. A lot of the time, we're going to agree on what we do but there are going to be times when we won't. As long as we talk, we can work things out and come to an agreement. It's when we start making major decisions without consulting each other that we run into trouble. You once asked me not to shut you out. I'm asking you to do the same for me."

"It ain't easy fer me," he told her. "Yer young and I'm an old man. We old farts get set in our ways."

"I'm not looking for an excuse," she told him. "I'm looking for a promise. If it concerns both of us, you'll talk to me before we make any decision. And you'll stop sneaking around behind my back and deciding where my life will go."

"I'll try," he promised.

"No, Logan," she said, "you'll do it or we are going to have some major problems."


	12. Chapter 12

Second Chances

A/N: I have written an X rated version of this chapter as well. If anyone would like to read it, please e-mail me and I will send it to you.

Chapter 12

Logan could understand where Jubilee was coming from but it didn't make it any easier. He had been worrying about her well being for over ten years. Even when she was at school in Massachusetts, he worried. He had screwed up with her so many times that he didn't want take the risk of doing it again. In the end, he promised to treat her like an adult and she promised to paff him if her ever back slid again.

They spent three days, tearing their relationship apart and stitching it back together again. What they ended up with was a strong base to build on that they both felt comfortable with. They didn't know it yet, but theirs was the only pairing among the X-Men that would stand the test of time.

When they returned to the mansion, Hank was ready to try the experiment on Jubilee. Logan found that he was a bundle of nerves as he escorted her to the Med-Lab the morning before the procedure. Hank wanted a fresh bone marrow sample and a blood test to determine her overall health. He wasn't happy with her recent weight loss but believed that it would reverse itself as her healing factor activated.

Jubilee limped back to the lab the next morning, hanging on to Logan and grouching at everyone in the halls. Hank had refused to prescribe pain killers. He needed her system to be clear of all drugs to allow the graft to take evenly throughout her body. Her hip was killing her. Every step shot fire up her back and she had been unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Her restlessness during the night had kept Logan awake all night so he wasn't Mr. Sunshine that morning either.

Jubilee snarled a 'Good morning' to Hank and heaved her body onto the table he had indicated. Logan didn't help her. She had bitten him when he helped her get dressed before coming down to the lab and he didn't want his hands anywhere near her.

The procedure itself, was anticlimactic. Hank numbed her arm and inserted what he called a PICC line that went from the crook of her arm to her heart. He took one X-Ray to make sure the line was placed properly then injected less than a teaspoon of red liquid into the line, followed by what Logan felt was a gallon of salt water.

"That's it?" Jubilee asked as Hank removed the PICC line.

"That's it," he confirmed. "Hold pressure here." he indicated the large wad of gauze he had placed over the hole in her arm.

"No surgery or anything?" Wow, that was nothing.

"All I needed to do was return your bone marrow to your body," he told her as he cleaned up. "By placing it in circulation in your blood stream, I have done that. The marrow will find it's way to your bones over the next twenty-four hours where it will replicate and begin to produce the red and white blood cells that are part of the healing factor. As the stem cells disperse and mature, a healing factor will develop. We should know if it worked in about seven days. You may have some tenderness around the access site for a few days. If you have any shortness of breath or chest pain, I want to know immediately. Take it easy for today and tomorrow you may resume your regular activities."

"Can I have something for the pain in my hip now?" she asked.

"The wound from the bone marrow extraction is the best indicator that you have a working healing factor. The pain will suddenly disappear and you will feel much better. Pain medication will mask that." He grabbed a communicator badge from his desk and handed it to her. "I will need to examine you twice a day until the process is complete. I will be watching the control sample here in the lab. If anything happens to it, I will call you and you must return right away. Likewise, if you have any unusual symptoms, I expect you to call me. Once we are sure that this will work, I must remove the Teflon mesh before your body tries to eject it through your skin."

"Eeeww."

"Ya see me do that with bullets all the time, darlin'," Logan chuckled.

"But that's you," she countered. "It's never happened to me before." She turned back to Hank. "What can I do about the pain in my hip so we can get some sleep?"

"Smart ass Popsicle," Logan grumbled as he helped Jubilee to bed later.

"It was Hank's suggestion," she said as she settled into the bed.

"I coulda just gotten the stuff from the kitchen," he told her as he undressed and climbed in beside her. "Damn, that's cold."

Bobby Drake had been asked to help Jubilee with her pain by his best friend. Hank knew that for her to be comfortable, the hip would need to be iced and the best way to do that was to have the ice formed around her hip. As a result, Bobby sat for two minutes, under the watchful eye of Wolverine, with his hand touching her bare hip, forming an arc of ice around the affected area. Jubilee wasn't embarrassed. When you live in close quarters with so many people, privacy is a luxury and modesty is squashed very quickly. Bobby, to his regret, couldn't prevent the appreciative whistle that escaped his lips when she stripped to her undies. His ears were still ringing from the adamantium backed slap to his head.

"If you think you're cold, try having a block of ice strapped to your butt." she told him. "I do feel more comfortable, though."

"Wish I did," Logan grumbled under his breath.

"What's that?" she asked sleepily.

"Nothin' darlin'," he said. "Let's get some sleep. I got a Danger Room session at four."

By the fifth day, Jubilee was beginning to regret deciding to do this. She woke up that morning feeling nauseous and hot. In another two hours, she was vomiting, sweating and shivering like she had the flu. A panicked Logan rushed her down to the lab where Beast waited. The control sample was doing well so he didn't expect to see Logan dash in with a barely conscious Jubilee cradled in his arms.

"I had hoped this wouldn't happen," Hank sighed as Logan placed his burden on the bed. "I suppose I should have expected it, though. The more complex the organism, the more traumatic the changes."

"Quit yer hypothesizin' and get over here," Wolverine demanded.

"She'll be fine, Logan," Hank told him as he attached the monitor leads. "Her body is fighting all of the pathogens that it presently hosts, all at the same time. The procedure has worked."

"Then why is she so damned sick?"

"It's like when you take an enormous amount of damage. Your healing factor works overtime to heal and clear your system of the poisons you produce when you replace your cells so quickly. Jubilee is not only trying to heal several areas of damage but she also trying to rid herself of billions of pathogenic microorganisms. She has fallen into a healing coma. She will be fine."

Hank removed the mesh not three hours after Logan's mad dash to the Med-Lab. The entire team was present when Hank came out and told them that she would be better than okay and he was returning her to active status if she wished. The cheer that echoed through the room gave Logan a good feeling. He knew that it would be her choice if she wanted to return to duty now of try for a baby first. He was just happy she was okay.

Logan was listening to the cheering when he heard a sudden squeak from the other side of the room and the air was filled with the sweet/salty scent of amniotic fluid. He was out of his chair and across the room to catch her before she slipped in the growing puddle of liquid running down her legs.

"Hank," he called over the noise, "Jean's water just broke." A hush fell over the room, lasting several seconds. When Jean moaned with her first contraction, everyone started shouting, almost driving Logan to his knees in pain. Hank swept Jean up in his arms and looked around the room, shaking his head.

In the chaos that followed, Logan slipped away from the group and pulled a chair next to Jubilee's bed. He turned and watched the mighty X-Men brought low by a tiny baby making her entrance two weeks early. It was pandemonium. Cyke, Popsicle, Gumbo and Wings, all trying to get through the Med-Lab door at the same time. It looked for all the world like a Keystone Kops short. Rogue finally managed to break the log jamb by shoving the masculine mass through the door. The door jamb warped under the pressure and Bobby went head first into the wall opposite the door. The remaining Kops landed in a tangle of arms and legs on the floor in the hall. Rogue stood over them berating them to get their shit together. She sent Scott to get the prepared suitcase, told Bobby to get the car, handed Warren her cell phone to call the doctor and shoved Remy at a wheelchair and told him to make himself useful. Under her direction, everything came together and Jean was swept off to have her baby.

Once the rush was over, Logan turned his attention back to Jubilee. Her features were still relaxed in deep sleep. The noise hadn't wakened her. He wished he had a camera. Jubes would have appreciated the slapstick routine. A noise at the door drew his attention. Hank entered, glanced at the monitor readout and pulled a tape from behind his back.

"From the Med-Lab cameras," he told him. "I think Jubilation would like to see it."

A huge grin lit Logan's face. "Hank, yer one in a million," he told him.

"I know," he said demurely. "You can take her back to your room when she wakes up as long as she's steady on her feet. Remember what I said about contraception. Not until I give the okay."

"I remember but isn't too soon?"

"She will be perfectly healthy when she wakes up. I see no reason for you _not_ to have relations."

The only reason would be if she didn't want to. Her period had caught them off guard. Her bought of depression had knocked her cycle out of whack and her period appeared a week early. Jubilee hated to get physical during this time so he would have to curb his enthusiasm until she was ready.

He thanked Hank and settled down to wait. Two hours later, he was wondering how Jubilee had kept her mind waiting for him to wake up from a coma. The waiting was killing him. She hadn't moved since he came in. He watched as her skin pinked up and regained the healthy glow he was used to. The puncture wound in her arm healed and the bruise on her hip from the marrow sample shrunk and faded. Her healing factor was definitely working.

An hour later, she began to stir. He called her name until she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hey," he smiled.

"How long have I been out?" she croaked. He held a cup of water to her lips and she drank, appreciatively.

"I brought ya down around seven this mornin'. It's 5:30 now."

"What happened?"

"Yer healing factor kicked in." Her eyes widened.

"It worked?" she squeaked.

"Yeah darlin', it worked."

She threw herself into his arms with a small shriek. He held her as she wept and blubbered. He couldn't help but smile. Everything that had been taken from her seven months ago was finally back. She could defend herself again. She could even try to have a baby now.

"Let's go to our room," he suggested.

"Can I?" she asked, sniffling.

"Why not?" he shrugged. "I never stay once I'm awake. I gotta tape ya need ta see."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. C'mon, let's get outta here." He pulled her out of the bed and toward the door.

"Bye Hank," Jubilee yelled as she stumbled through the door.

"But you're not steady on your feet," he objected, striding after them.

"I would be if Wolvie'd quit dragging me," she yelled back. "Be in our room." The elevator door closed on them and Hank was left alone in the lower levels.

She was able to watch the tape twice before Scott called and informed the mansion that Jean had given birth to a 7lb 10oz red head girl named Rachel. Champaign and beer flowed and Jubilee discovered the first disadvantage of a healing factor.

Because of her smaller body mass, she was able to get a buzz sooner than Logan but it only lasted five minutes. She sat on the sofa in the den, frowning at her bottle of beer.

"It doesn't help ta get mad at it, darlin'," Logan told her as he sat beside her.

"This really bites, Wolvie," she pouted. "I can't even get a buzz. Might as well just pour it in the toilet. The only thing I'm doing is making urine."

"Ya got yer life back," he said, giving her a comforting hug. "Don't ya think it's a fair trade?"

"I suppose," she shrugged.

"Look at it this way. You can drink anyone but me and Creed under the table and remember what happened. Ya get to watch everyone else get shit faced and blackmail 'em with it later."

"Why'd he save me?" she asked. It had been bothering her for a while now.

"He likes ya," Logan told her.

"As what?" she asked. "A lover? A slave? What?"

"Yer not his type," Logan said. "He usually goes fer the tall, busty airhead type. The kind he can dominate. I don't know what he wants ya fer but it ain't as a bed partner. Maybe it's 'cause yer mine."

"Shit," she swore. "I wish I knew what he wanted."

"Not too healthy ta go too deep inta his mind Jubes. C'mon, let's get ta bed. I'm takin' ya inta the Danger Room tomorrow. Gotta get ya back inta shape."

They waved good night to the inebriated X-Men and went to their room.

It only took Logan two weeks to get Jubilee into fighting shape. The healing factor increased her body's ability to take the punishing routine and she found that she needed to exercise. Hank told them he believed it was because of the alterations to her brain. The healing factor needed to be used and exercise did that.

A month after the procedure, Hank gave them the okay to get pregnant and Logan's behavior suddenly changed for the weirder. Her period came and went and Logan took to sniffing and nuzzling her several times a day. It was creeping her out.

The first month, nothing happened except Logan's strange sniffing behavior. Sex became very, very satisfying. She found that she was able to go most of the night. For the better part of their relationship, Logan wasn't able to completely satisfy himself. Jubilee didn't have the stamina to go on as long as he could so he frequently fell asleep hard or semi hard. The night Jubilee was able to defeat him and make him go completely limp, she celebrated. He was too exhausted at the time but he congratulated her the next morning.

His strange behavior continued for five weeks. When he started to seek her out and sniff her more often, she couldn't take it any more.

"What are you doing?" she asked, exasperated, when he had sniffed her for the fifth time in less than six hours.

"Yer gonna ovulate soon," he told her, happily inhaling her scent. "I got somethin' special fer ya when ya do."

That night at dinner, he leaned over and sniffed her neck. His eyes widened with a gleam of satisfaction and lust. He grabbed her hand and yanked her out of her chair, dragging her to the door.

"Excuse us," she yelled to her bewildered teammates, and followed him out the front door. She stumbled after him until they got to the tree line where he stopped.

"Run." he ordered, his eyes red with feral passion.

"What?" she demanded, confused.

A low growl rumbled in his throat. "Run." he told her again.

She knew better than to disobey him when the animal was in control. She turned and dashed into the trees. He held himself back. It wouldn't do for the hunt to end too soon. For the first time, the beast was holding back the man. The man wanted to find Jubilee and fuck her senseless. The beast insisted that this was the most important hunt in his life. From this hunt, they would get the pup they both craved. They needed her to get far away so the hunt would be a challenge for all of them. A challenging hunt would produce a very strong pup. So he waited, crouched at the edge of the trees, more animal than man.

Jubilee ran through the trees making sure she didn't leave a clear trail. She knew what he was doing. He had explained the mating hunt to her several months ago. She just never had thought she would get the chance to do it. It was exciting. It was like hide and seek with a more exciting outcome at the end. She knew she couldn't make it easy for him. She would need to fight back when he found her. She could make it easier for herself. The long skirt and floppy blouse would hamper her movements so she stripped to her panties and camisole top, leaving the clothes where they lay and heading in a different direction.

A stream ran through the woods to the west of the mansion. She hoped she could hide her scent in the water though she doubted it. He always became more amorous in the middle of her cycle. He told her that she gave off the most delicious pheromones during those three days that he couldn't help himself. Sex pheromones were very strong. Even normal men react to them and Logan was hardly a normal man.

She splashed through the stream for about a half a mile before leaving it and making her way to the small escarpment near the edge of the property. She had climbed the twenty foot wall many times and knew there was a copse of hardwood trees at the top she could climb. The branches of several of them would support her weight but not his.

She was just pulling herself over the top of the wall when she heard the low growl telling her she had been found. She quickly moved away from the sheer drop. This was about sex, not death. It wouldn't do to fall off the cliff at a time like this.

This was where Emma's training came in handy. She opened her mind and followed the shimmering link back to her mate. There he was, hiding in the trees. She sent a small paff at him and waited until it expanded into a blinding white light. When the flash died, she was already running for the trees, searching for the smaller ones that he couldn't climb. She was almost there when her legs were knocked out from under her by nearly four hundred pounds of Wolverine. She was lucky he didn't break anything.

She rolled and came up paffing. Two mid level paffs caught him in the chest, driving him into a large oak He recovered quickly and came at her again. She back flipped away from his diving grab and clipped him on the chin with her booted foot. She knew she couldn't let him grab her. He outweighed her by over two hundred pounds. She needed

to stay out of reach as long as possible. They circled each other, warily

"You want me, don't you, Wolvie," she taunted. "You want me so bad that it's killing you." He started to growl, softly at first, gradually increasing in volume. "I won't be easy." she continue, her voice husky with need. "You're gonna have to beat me first. I'm stronger now and I won't mate with a weak man. Are you prepared to hurt me, Wolverine? I'm prepared to hurt you to stop you. You have to win the right to fuck me. Show me what you've got. Show me what you are."

His eyes flashed in fierce approval. She knew. She knew exactly what he needed. He quickly stripped out his clothes. He needed the freedom of movement if he was going to catch the female. Her breath caught in her throat. He was magnificent.

She saw the muscles of his thighs quiver as he readied himself to leap at her. When he did. She was already moving. She ducked under him as he leapt and drove one fist into his exposed belly and using the other hand to stroke him. He landed, hard, but was up and after her, quickly. She rained paffs down on him as fast as she could, burning in several places. He ignored the burns and jumped at her again. She twisted out of the way and brought her hand up and punched him in the throat. She knew she was getting tired but he wasn't ready yet. She flipped over him and kicked him in the back of the head. She rained blow after blow on him and he still wasn't ready.

Finally, he was able to take her to the ground, pop his outside claws and pin her to the ground by the neck. Now, he was ready.

He slowly, retracted his claws and reached down to remove her panties. It was time to take his prize. Jubilee couldn't remember sex every being this good, this hot. It was everything she ever read in romance novels come to life. When her world exploded, he was there with her, man and animal.

He collapsed on her, out of breath and trembling. The man rose to the surface and looked down on the mate. She had passed out. He rolled over, taking her with him, and settled her on his chest. God, he loved her. No other woman would have let him do what he just did to her. No other woman would have been able to hold him off as long as she did. No one understood him like she did, and no one ever would.

She stirred in his arms and looked up at him.

"Wow!" she breathed.

"No kidding!" he said.

"Why don't we do this all the time?"

"I'm only motivated ta do this when yer fertile."

"So we can do this once a month?" she asked eagerly.

"Till ya get pregnant if ya want ta."

"How come we didn't last month," she asked, frowning.

"Ya didn't ovulate last month," he told her.

"Oh," she said. "What time is it?"

"After ten. We should be going in."

She pulled herself up and straddled his waist, a sultry grin on her face. Crossing her arms in front of her, she pulled her camisole off and unhooked her bra. Dropping her clothes beside them,she smiled.

"I'm not finished with you yet," she told him as she brought her mouth to his and kissed him.


	13. Chapter 13

Second Chances

Chapter 13

Two weeks later, just like clockwork, Jubilee got her period. He knew it the second he woke up that morning. If the scent of her blood hadn't given it away, the sound of her sobbing in the bathroom would. He found her, sitting on the toilet with her head on her knees, crying her heart out.

"It's okay darlin'," he told her as he put his arms around her. "We can try again next month."

"I can't do anything right," she cried. "I can't even get pregnant."

"C'mon Jubes," he said reasonably. "We just got started. Maybe we need more practice."

"Right," she snorted. "Like we don't have sex often enough as it is."

"Ya can never have too much sex," he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'm serious, Logan. Why didn't I get pregnant this time?"

"I don't know darlin'. Maybe there was somethin' wrong with yer egg."

"But I have a healing factor now. Wouldn't it correct any abnormal cells?"

"Ya gotta remember, it's not yer healin' factor, it's mine. I don't have eggs. Maybe it's lookin fer the sperm and won't correct any bad eggs."

"I hadn't thought of that," she admitted. "Should we ask Hank or wait?"

"Why don't we give it a few months before we panic," he suggested "In the meantime, we practice every chance we get."

"Not today," she groaned. "I don't feel up to it."

"I know ya don't, darlin'," he chuckled. "We have plenty of time."

Jubilee returned to the team while she waited for their other activities to take hold. Jean was still off on maternity leave so Emma was responding to their alerts. She could see the happiness radiating from her former student. She watched as Jubilee and Wolverine worked together. It was like watching two parts of a single person. They always knew where the other was at all times. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn they were communicating telepathically.

Jubilee was definitely stronger and much faster than she was before the experiment. She seemed to be everywhere. Cyclops finally had to tell her so slow down. She was making him dizzy trying to keep track of her. She told him she already had a short, hairy bodyguard and she didn't need him to guard her too. Her paffs remained the same but she had more confidence in her ability to direct and control them. It wasn't unusual to see her standing on the top of a building, raining a barrage of precisely placed paffs all around the X-Men, keeping their opponents from getting a clear shot at them. Her control was so fine that even if they moved suddenly, no X-Man was ever hit by a paff. She had finally come into her own and both Wolverine and Cyclops were very proud of her.

Her twenty-fourth birthday came and went with the usual party. Several days later, Logan hunted her again. Two weeks after the hunt, she was disappointed again when her period started. She had agreed not to discuss her problems getting pregnant with Hank for six months so she redirected her feelings into taking care of Rachel Summers.

Jean and Scott's daughter was a squirming bundle of red hair and green eyes. Jubilee and Logan loved her to death. Logan always was one for the little girls. That he would be enamored of the baby wasn't surprising and Jubilee had loved children for a long time. The shocker was when Remy started stealing her from her crib and moving her to his room. Jubilee was initially concerned but when she found Rachel, lying on her tummy on Remy's chest, both of them fast asleep, she decided that the Cajun was having paternal cravings similar to Logan's. He needed a little pseudo Daddy time.

Remy and Rogue's relationship had been as rocky as Jean and Scott's has been smooth. Everyone knew the two southern X-Men loved each other but neither was willing to give when it came to anything. They argued about everything, even whether it was day or night. It was like living in the middle of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew". After one particularly nasty and very public argument, Jubilee decided she needed to talk to one of them. She decided to take Rogue shopping.

They had a wonderful time cleaning out the mall and were resting in the food court when Jubilee brought up the subject of relationships.

"Rogue, I know you and Remy are having problems," she told her. "I want to help you if I can."

"Ya can tell that ol' swamp rat ta quit messin' with me," she hissed.

"Remy loves you," Jubilee insisted.

"He sure got a funny way of showin' it," she said angrily. "He cheated on me. He fucked that little whore at the Auger."

Jubilee grabbed Rogue's gloved hand and held on tightly. "Remy loves you but he's still a man. Until you can control your powers, he will need an outlet for his sexual needs. It doesn't mean that he doesn't want you. It means that he wants you so much that he has trouble controlling himself."

"Why doesn't he say that?" she demanded.

"Do you tell him that his whores hurt you?" Jubilee asked. "It seems to me that you wait until you can't stand it anymore and then you blow up at him. A relationship is built on trust. You can't develop trust until you talk to each other. And I mean talk, not yell."

"I don't know if I can do that," she admitted. "Remy and I have been hollerin' at each other fer years."

"Make the first move," Jubilee advised. "When he does something you don't like, tell him immediately. Don't let it fester like an infected wound. Don't accuse, just state the facts and how you feel about it. Eventually, he'll get the picture and start talking to you the same way. But the first thing you need to do is apologize for the argument you just had."

"I can't do that," she said, her anger returning. "I wasn't wrong."

"It doesn't matter who was wrong. All that matters is that you tell him you are sorry for yelling at him in front of the rest of us. You're not apologizing for being angry. You have the right to be angry but you don't have the right to belittle him in front of the entire team. You don't see Jean and Scott do that and you will never see Logan and me do that."

"How do ya do it?" she asked. "You and Logan are two of the orneriest people I know. Ya'd think ya'd never get along but ya do. I kinda expected ya ta run away from him after ya started sleepin' together."

"It's not easy," Jubilee admitted. "Logan sometimes tries to treat me like I'm a kid again. We spent three days ripping everything we had apart and putting it back together again. We got a lot of things out in the open that have been bothering us for years. We still have issues that we argue about but it's gotten better. We love and trust each other enough to say what's on our minds without getting ugly. I'm not saying it's going to be roses and candy all the time. It won't be. Sometimes it's dirty laundry and muddy shoes or leaving the toilet seat up, which is a problem for us right now, or even who has to sleep in the wet spot. A relationship is hard work but it's worth every tear you shed and every drop of sweat you put into it. And when you do get the roses and candy, you'll know it's because he loves you, not because he did something wrong."

Rogue rocked back in her chair and looked at the younger woman in awe. "When did ya get ta be so wise?"

"I had a hell of a mentor," she told her. "C'mon, let's go home. I need to see my husband."

Three weeks after her talk with Rogue, she and Logan were in the den watching a movie when Remy ran in and pulled Jubilee to her feet. Over Logan's growling protest, the ecstatic Cajun gave her a kiss that bent her over backward.

"Merci beaucoup," he whispered into her ear.

"You're welcome," she gasped. "I'm glad I could help."

He set her back on her feet and virtually skipped out of the room.

"Mind tellin' me what that was all about?" Logan growled at her.

She pushed him down on the sofa and climbed into his lap. "Communication," she told him. "I had a little talk with Rogue. Looks like it worked."

"Pew," he wrinkled his nose. "Ya smell like the Cajun now."

She smiled saucily. "Well, I guess you're gonna have to re-mark me."

The growls and giggles coming from the den kept the others away for hours.

Summer was over and the fall chill crept through the house. Logan woke cold and alone. Jubilee must have slept in the library, he thought. She had taken over the care and feeding of the mansion's vast library while she was off the team due to her injury and liked it so much, she remained in the position of librarian. The library was enormous, larger than some inner city branches. When she had started cataloging the books, she found such a disarray that she had closed the library to anyone except her. It took her over a month of hard work to catalog and arrange the books. Now, she had a checkout system so she knew where every book in the mansion was at all times and woe to the person who took a book without checking it out.

He threw on his robe and stumbled downstairs to the kitchen. Jean, Scott and Remy were already there when he grumbled through the door, aiming for the coffee pot. He caught a whiff of something familiar as he passed Jean that made him stop in his tracks. She was pregnant. Damn, it didn't take Cyke long to plow that field again. He shrugged his shoulders and continued on his quest for caffeine. Wasn't his problem if Cyke knocked up his wife. He was trying to knock up his own.

The first cup of coffee was gulped quickly. By the time he had poured the second, the burns in his mouth were healing and he slowed to appreciate the flavor of the hot, caffeine filled nectar. He was working on the third cup when Jubilee stumbled in looking for coffee.

She lifted the empty pot and glared at him angrily. "You drank all the coffee," she accused. "You drank it all and didn't make a new pot."

"Now wait a minute, darlin'," he objected. "I had help."

She opened her mouth to fire back when Remy interrupted.

"Don' get ta arguin'. Remy'll make de coffee."

"No!" everyone shouted.

"I can't hack the syrup you make, Gumbo," Jubilee told him. "I'll make it."

Logan felt a chill run down his spine. He had the oddest feeling of deja vu. As soon as Jubilee mentioned Remy's nasty coffee, he felt as if he'd done this _exactly _like this before. He made himself scarce before anyone could notice his unease.

The whole day was like that. Movies that he could have sworn he saw before, the pattern in a wrinkle across a piece of paper, the argument he and Jubilee got into. It was so strange. He was grateful when they were called to the War Room for a pre-mission briefing until the sit-rep started to sound familiar. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was going to happen.

It was an FOH rally in the state Capital. A park near the Capital building was a mass of bright yellow shirts instead of the green it should have been. A ring of police cruisers surrounded the park, keeping additional people from joining the fray and restraining the protesters in the green-space.

A strong jolt of deja vu slammed into Wolverine's gut. He had been here before. Dammit, why couldn't he remember _when_? "Cyke, I gotta real bad feelin' 'bout this one." he growled.

Cyclops turned in his seat to look at his teammate. Wolverine was completely suited up, his winged hood mimicking his hair. His face was a mask of concentration but his eyes held a trace of something Scott never thought he would see in the older man: fear. Something about this mission had him spooked. He looked down at the seething mass of people and again at Wolverine.

"What is it, Logan?" Scott had learned over the years to pay attention to Wolverine's instincts. The short feral was usually right about his read on a situation.

"I feel like I've been here before," Wolverine told him.

"Of course you've been here before," Cyclops said. "This is Albany."

"No," Logan said, frustrated that he couldn't make himself clearer. "I've been here before in the same situation. I can't explain it but we need ta be very careful."

Cyclops looked at him and nodded. "Everyone, stay on your toes. Report anything unusual right away. Jean, keep a telepathic link on all of us. Don't take chances, people. You're no use to us dead."

"There's a group of six mutants below the stage being held by four men with guns," Jean informed him.

He flipped a switch and the rear door fell open. "Fliers out. Secure the hostages first, then we'll disperse the crowd. Don't get shot," he warned his wife. She smiled and blew him a kiss. Storm, Rogue and Jean flew out of the back of the Blackbird.

Cyclops concentrated on setting the jet down on the street outside of the park. When he had gotten green lights indicating touchdown and level park, he powered down to idle and flipped on the security net to prevent joyriders from stealing the plane.

"Show time," he said as he unbuckled his restraints. He felt the mind link activate as Jean linked the team together. He waited until they had all nodded, telling him that the link was complete before opening the front ramp and racing out.

Wolverine lost visual track of his teammates fairly quickly as the crowd reacted to the presence of the X-Men. A large number decided that they didn't have the stomach to tangle with high powered mutants and fled. The police were ready for them and were picking them up and searching them as they left the park. The pile of weapons confiscated by the police grew to alarming proportions.

Jubilee tugged her mask firmly in place. "Ready, Wolvie?"

"Locked and loaded, darlin'," he told her. "Be careful. There's somethin' screwy 'bout this."

"You watch mine and I'll watch yours," she yelled over her shoulder as she ran into the crowd.

'Dammit,' he thought. 'I thought I had that runnin' off shit trained outta her.' He began tossing bodies over his shoulder as he chased after his wayward partner.

It didn't take him long to catch up to her. "I can't protect yer back if ya run off on me," he told her as he took the legs out from under a FOH goon.

"Gotta keep up with me, old man," she teased, sending a paff toward a wall on the opposite side of the park. Wolverine had heard the request from Cyclops for Jubilee to take out the wall. The plasma ball wobbled slightly as she lost concentration when a large yellow shirted man grabbed her around the shoulders. Wolverine took him out with a chop to the back of the neck. When the beefy man fell, he knocked Jubilee down as well.

"Keep 'em busy till I get that paff where it needs ta be," she told him.

He nodded and for the first time since he entered the fray, the claws came out. Jubilee was protected on one side by the building behind her. The other three sides were protected by almost four hundred pounds of snarling Wolverine in full battle mode. The crowd scattered quickly. His reputation had preceded him.

He turned to see Jubilee, her eyes closed in intense concentration, trying to weave the paff through the crowd without hurting anyone. She opened her eyes and smiled in satisfaction as the paff exploded, blowing the low wall up and reveling the cluster of men hiding behind it. It was then that Wolverine's senses started screaming at him.

One of the men rose with a long, cylindrical object in his arms. Wolverine recognized it immediately: Rocket launcher. 'Oh God,' he though, 'it's aimed at Jubes.' She squeaked in surprise as his hands grabbed her waist and heaved her into the air just as fire exploded from the back of the launcher.

Wolverine couldn't risk watching her. He had to hope he got her high enough to get out of the blast zone. He needed to worry about the rocket now. A direct hit could kill him. Time slowed to a crawl as the rocket approached. He called on every reflex he had and twisted his body away from the projectile, feeling the heat of the exhaust as it passed him and slammed into the dumpster behind him. He could head Jubilee scream his name as the shards of metal raced toward him at blinding speed. He could feel Jean as she struggled to shield herself and him from the deadly rain but he knew she wouldn't make it in time. This is what happened one year ago today. He and Jubilee both were going to get hurt and very badly.

Logan was floating. He couldn't feel his body and was in total darkness. The only thing that kept him from panicking was that he could hear and smell so he knew he wasn't in a sensory deprivation tank. It almost felt like he was dreaming. He wanted to tell the kids to shut up so he could get some sleep but, for some reason, he couldn't open his mouth.

The sounds were a roar in his sensitive ears. He couldn't make out what everyone was saying. The beeping of monitors filled his ears, sounding like the gong of a large clock heard too close. Why didn't it hurt, he wondered. Noise this close and loud usually gave him a ringing headache. The scents were a muddle of people he knew and the Med-Lab. The one scent he could make out was blood; his own and Jubilee's.

He struggled against the darkness. Jubilee was hurt. He needed to be there and protect her. She just came back to the X-Men three months ago. She still needed him to keep her out of trouble. Wake up, stupid, he told himself. You can't sleep while Jubilee's in pain. She's your mate.

"Wolvie!" he heard Jubilee scream. He struggled harder. Somewhere, a monitor faltered, the rhythm irregular. Jubes was dying! He had to wake up!

"Wolvie, No!" she cried. He could smell tears. Come on, come on, wake up! He was beginning to panic.

BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeP


	14. Chapter 14

Second Chances

Chapter 14

BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeP

"Don't leave me!" someone screamed. He struggled harder, trying to break through.

Suddenly, he was on the other side of the room, naked and whole. He looked around wildly, confused and disoriented. A tall, brown haired woman in a white body stocking was leaning against the Med-Lab door, smiling at him.

"Disquieting, isn't it?" she asked, her voice smoky.

He attempted to trigger his claws, intending to capture her and find out how she got into the lower levels, but found that they refused to respond to his commands.

"Who are ya, lady," he growled, "and why can't I trigger my claws?"

"I am known by many names," she told him as she pushed herself away from the door. He backed away from her as she walked toward him. "As for why you can't use your gift..." She nodded toward the occupied tables.

He walked forward. Jubilee was on the first table, her left leg covered with blood, Jean leaning over her with a look of intense concentration. He gasped. The wounds looked very familiar. The deformed collar bone, the bloody puddle under the bed and the holes in the fabric of her uniform. These were the same injuries that nearly killed her a year ago. How could it have happened exactly the same way?

"And the other bed," the woman said.

He looked over and felt his knees go weak. It was his own body lying there, the large blue doctor trying to remove large a clump of metal so his healing factor could close the wounds. The puddle of blood under Jubilee's bed was large. The one under his was huge. No one was moving.

"Am I dead?" he asked.

"At this nanosecond in time, yes." she told him.

"And Jubilee?"

"She is alive."

He stopped to think, struggling over what he wanted to know and how to say it.

"How could this happen the exact same way twice?"

"It didn't," she told him. "The last year has not taken place yet. This is the second time we have met. The first time, you wanted to know what your life would have been like had you told Jubilee you loved her. I gave you the chance to see that."

"Ya mean none of it happened?"

"The injury that took her career has already happened. I can't change that. She will be dismissed from the team. The rest never happened."

"The bond?"

"The bond is still in place but your death will not kill her directly. You have not sealed the bond with a physical joining. But there will be other, lasting effects."

He gave a small sob of a laugh. "The happiest year of my life and it never happened."

"What have you learned?"

He looked up at her, his eyes filled with pain. "I didn't know I was supposed ta learn anything."

"You learn something new every day if you watch," she told him. "What did you learn from the year that never was?"

He looked over to Jubilee's anguished face as she looked at his body at the moment of his death.

"I love her," he said quietly. "more than I ever thought possible. She's the part of my soul I've been missin' all my life." He walked over and ran his fingers through her soft hair. "She accepts me as I am, but I'd change eveythin' about me ta please her. I'd dedicate my life ta makin' her happy. She needs me ta watch over her but not ta smother her. She wants ta make her own mistakes and learn from 'em. When she's with me, she's unpredictable but not careless. She wants me and kids so bad she can taste it. She loves me but she won't let me walk all over her. She's my mate and I won't ever find another ta match her."

"Would you choose to put down your burden and stop fighting? Would you choose to know everything about who and what you are? Or would you choose to return to her and live a life of chance and danger, with no guarantee that things would work out the way they did in the year that never was?"

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"I know the name of everyone living now, in the past and in the future," she told him.

Something Patrick Martin said flashed through his mind, making him gasp.

"Are you God?" he demanded.

"I am known by many names. God, Vishnu, Allah, Gia and many more." She told him.

"But yer a woman," he objected.

"Gender is irrelevant." She said. "What is your choice, stay or go?"

To stop the fighting. It sounded so good. He would find out everything he had been searching for. Peace at last. Answers to all of the questions that had been banging around in his head for decades.

But to leave Jubilee. That would be the cost. He would loose his mate for her lifetime. He would have to wait for her death to rejoin her. To loose the possibilities she represented.

"If I go back, what will I remember?"

"The year has not happened," She told him. "You will have no memories of the events of the past year and you must win her again."

"We mean too much ta each other," he said. "I wanna go back ta her."

"Who are you?" the woman asked, her voice booming.

"Logan," he replied instantly. "Mate of Jubilation Lee and the X-Man known as Wolverine."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I don't understand. What do you want to know?" he cried.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?"

The voice blended into the beeps and clicks of the Med-Lab. Voices thundered in his ears and suddenly, he knew what she wanted to know.

"Logan?" Jean's voice was loud in his ears.

"Howlett," he murmured. "My name is James Howlett."

Jean gasped in shock. "You remember?"

"Yeah," he gasped, pain radiating from his chest

"Jubes?" he asked.

"She has shrapnel in her leg and a fractured collar bone but she will be fine," Hank assured him. "I will need to operate and remove the bits of metal as soon as you are stable."

"I'll be fine," he told him. "Do what ya need ta fer Jubilee." Hank nodded and turned away.

Logan reached out and grabbed Hanks wrist in a surprisingly strong grasp. Hank turned back, a question in his eyes. "Don't let her die," Logan begged. "I won't survive if she dies." Hank looked in his eyes and nodded. Logan released him and slumped back of the bed.

"Logan?" Cyclops stepped up to the bed.

"I'll be okay," he reassured his leader. "What happened, Cyke?"

"A riot in Albany," he told his teammate. "We had gotten control of the situation when some yahoo came up with a rocket launcher. He was aiming at Jubilee for some reason. You threw her up in the air and dodged the rocket but it hit a dumpster behind you. The shrapnel from the rocket and the dumpster flew everywhere. Ten people were injured but you took the brunt of the explosion. It happened too fast for Jean to shield you. She barely was able to shield herself.

"You had twenty-seven holes in you chest, thirteen went through your heart, the rest through your lungs and back. Your left kidney was destroyed and you had huge holes in your intestines. You flat lined on us twice. Shit, Logan, I thought you were going to die this time. I don't think I've ever seen you hurt so bad."

"I died?" Logan gasped as a new wave of pain washed over him. "Does that mean I get some time off?"

"Don't push it," Scott said with a lopsided smile. "You're going to have to help Jubilee during her recovery."

"Scott, Hank likes to sugar coat things. I know you'll tell me the truth. How bad is she hurt?"

"It's pretty bad," he sighed as he sat in the chair beside the bed. "She took several large pieces of metal in her leg. Her femoral artery was ripped up in a couple of places. If Hank can't rebuild it, she will loose her leg."

"Oh God," Logan whispered. "Ya can't let that happen, Cyke. It'll kill her."

"I know," he said, looking at his hands. "I have Rogue looking for Worthington. He may be able to help her."

"I'll give her the blood," Logan told him desperately.

"You don't have any to spare," Scott protested.

"I don't give a shit," he growled. "She can't die!"

Scott's expression bloomed with dawning comprehension. "You love her," he whispered.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted. "As soon as we're well enough I'm askin' her ta marry me."

"You're kidding me." he said suspiciously. "Why the sudden change of heart? You and Jubes have been snapping at each other for months."

"Somethin' happened ta me," Logan told him. "I can't remember exactly what went on but I know I need ta have her with me. I think we bonded somewhere along the line."

Scott's communicator chirped for attention. He listened intently to the voice in his ear. "Rogue found him," he told Logan. "They're on their way back. They should be here in just under an hour. I'm going to let you rest. As soon as they get here, I'll send Warren down." He got up and started for the door.

"Cyke," Logan stopped him. "Thanks fer telling me the truth."

"How are you going to bring the subject up to Jubilee?" he asked.

"Not sure yet," he admitted. "I'll think of something."

He must have passed out after that. The next time he opened his eyes, Worthington was sitting in a chair beside Jubilee's bed, his head in his hands, looking very pale. Hank was standing beside his bed looking expectant.

"Welcome back, my feral friend," he said cheerfully.

"How long?" he rasped, his throat dry.

"Thirty-one hours," Hank told him as he held a cup of water to his lips. Logan took large, thirsty gulps and nodded his thanks.

"How's Jubes?" the pain in his chest diminishing quickly.

"Much improved," Hank told him. He began to remove the IV lines and monitor leads. "I wasn't sure Warren's blood would help after so much time but it seemed to do the trick. Her artery has repaired itself and the fractures have completely healed. She should be up and in trouble in a few days. Now, if I could get Warren to go to bed, everything would be precisely as I want them."

"I'll help ya," he said sitting up. He had anticipated a shaft of pain and was surprised when it didn't happen. He rubbed his chest, wondering why he would have thought that he would have any pain almost two days after the injury.

"I'll take care of him," Hank told him.

He walked around the bed and lifted the tall mutant into his strong arms. Warren woke with a start and began to struggle.

"Logan is awake," Hank told him. "We will watch Jubilee while you sleep." He took the protesting man over to a bed on the other side of the room and placed him gently down. "Stay here. If you get up, I'll give you a taste of the sedative I've developed for Wolverine." Warren gulped and nodded. He knew his healing factor wasn't as effective as Logan's. Anything developed for Wolverine would keep him out for several days. Beast smiled in satisfaction and returned to Jubilee.

"Ya really have somethin' that can put me out?" Logan asked in a low voice.

"No," Hank replied in the same voice. "But he doesn't know that."

"Wolvie?" Jubilee's weak voice called him. He turned and sat in the chair beside her bed and took her hand in his.

"I'm here darlin'," he told her.

"My leg aches," she complained.

"I can take care of that," Hank said as he opened a drawer next to the bed.

"What happened?" she asked. "Last thing I saw was the fire escape coming up on me.

"Rocket launcher," Logan told her. "I threw ya up in the air ta get ya out of the way. I didn't get ya far enough away and ya got some shrapnel in yer leg." She paled and flipped the sheet off of her. Dressings covered the healing wounds but her leg was intact. "Bird-Boy gave ya some blood."

"Was it that bad?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Yer artery was damaged. Hank thought ya might loose yer leg."

"This will take care of the pain," Hank said as he injected a syringe of clear fluid into her IV line.

It took about two minutes but the pain in her leg began to fade. "Bless you Hank," she sighed in relief. "Keep me comfortable and I'll have your children." Logan began to growl, dangerously.

"I think Wolverine might have something to say about that," Hank laughed as he walked away.

Jubilee watched the play of emotions over Logan's face. "Wolvie?" she drew his attention. "What's wrong?"

"Ya scared me ta death," he told her. "I thought ya were going ta die on me." He pulled the sheet back over her and added a blanket to keep her warm. "I almost lost ya, Jubes."

"I'm not gonna die on ya Wolvie," she said, her eyes drooping. "I haven't given ya gray hair yet." She gave a huge yawn. "I gotta sleep." Her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Within seconds, she was in a deep sleep.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and change," Logan told Hank as he got up. "Can ya keep an eye on Jubilee while I'm gone?"

Hank gave him a look that said 'Like I'd ever ignore a patient'. Logan had the grace to look chagrined as he turned and strode out of the Med-Lab.

He showered and changes clothes quickly then went in search of Storm. He wanted to ask Jubilee to marry him and he wanted to do it right. He needed a woman's point of view.

He found her in her attic room, reading a book. She gladly put the book down when he told her he needed to talk to her.

"I wanna ask Jubes ta marry me," he told her. "Yer a woman. How do I do this and make it special?"

"I am glad you realize that I am a woman, Logan but why would you wish to marry Jubilation. She is too young for you."

"Why would ya say that?" Logan was astounded.

"Goddess, Logan," Ororo swore. "She's only eighteen."

"Yer missin' a few years, 'Ro. She's twenty-three."

Ororo gasped. "She cannot be!"

"If anyone'd know, it'd be me," he told her. "She's old enough fer me and I love her. Ya know how much she likes kids. If I wait, she might take inta her head ta marry someone else so she can have one o' her own."

"But you don't even know your name. How are you going to give her a name you can't remember?"

"My name is James Howlett. I woke up after getting' hurt knowin' it, don't ask me how."

She sat down on the bed, hard, her mouth open in shock.

"We've bonded 'Ro. She belongs with me and I belong with her. She understands me and she doesn't want ta change what I am. She's the only one who never ran away from me."

"But you've run away from her," Ororo observed.

"That's 'cause I started havin' feelin's fer her. I ain't runnin' no more."

"But..."

"'Ro, do ya know what it means fer a feral ta bond?" Ororo shook her head. "It's a life bond. It's a connection so deep that our lives literally depend on each other. If Jubes dies, I do too and if I die, so does she."

"And you want that for her?"

"I love her, 'Ro, more than I did Mariko or Silver Fox. I'm gonna make sure she lives to a ripe old age and when she dies, I get ta follow her. There's finally an end fer me. I can't think of a better person ta share my life and my death with."

Three days later, on Ororo's advice, he booked the Danger Room for a romantic evening picnic with Jubilee. When he asked her to marry him, the shock on her face nearly made him regret moving so fast. Then she threw herself into his arms and started crying "Yes, yes, yes". He felt much better about what he was doing. By the time the picnic was over, however, she wasn't feeling very well and he had to rush her back to the Med-Lab.

As soon as Beast said that the healing accomplished by Angel's blood was reversing, he had such a staggering feeling of deja vu that he was lightheaded. He shook his head hard. She was going to be okay. He had faith in her to recover and thrive, no matter what happens.

He smiled at the rest of the team. "She'll be fine," he told them. "A little extra surgery and a longer recovery but she'll be okay. We have a weddin' ta plan."


	15. Epilogue

Second Chances

A/N: Thanks to dizi for letting me make a future for her OC, Jenny. She's going to have a wonderful life. Jenny's children were created during a series of conversations between dizi and myself. Amazing what you can do while IM'ing.

Epilogue

I've been watching this couple ever since I died. That's going on, let me see..., yeah, it's been three years now. I volunteered to watch them. They have guardians. Everyone has one but this couple needed more. I don't guard them, physically. I'm not sure if they need a physical guard. They're both very powerful mutants, and now, they both have healing factors. I'm not too sure exactly what their guardians do all day but it's not keeping them out of trouble. Maybe they escort trouble to them.

No, I don't guard their bodies. I am their advocate. I guard their hearts and their souls. In essence, I guard their love. I helped them get together, you know. I'm very proud of that fact. It was in the year that never was. I married them on a street in New York. I kind of screwed that one up. I did it without permission and got into trouble for it. But it completed the bond, which was what I was trying to do. They needed to admit, to themselves and to others, that they were husband and wife. It worked. The bond solidified and now links them together forever. Even after they die and are sent back, they will find each other again. It's kind of like a magnet for their hearts.

That doesn't mean their lives are all that wonderful. They _are_ mutants, you know. Mutants have a hard time during this period in time. They are considered little better than animals, an attitude I found abhorrent even when I was alive. Being mutants gives them a set of difficulties normal humans never experience, but they have their share of normal human problems they have to overcome too.

The worst one was infertility. After the big blue doctor gave Jubilee her husbands healing factor, they were unable to conceive. Actually, they could conceive but Jubilee's body treated the embryo as a foreign body and killed it. I knew what was happening because I could feel the death of each baby, month after month, but I had no way of letting them know. It nearly drove her to suicide. She tried once and I had to force another mutant to find her and save her. He was a big, ugly brute but, in his heart, he liked Jubilee and didn't want her to die. Oh, well. He was rewarded for saving her. He's going to have something of an interesting life.

Almost a year ago, the blue guy finally worked out something to prevent Jubilee's body from killing her child. She's waaaaaay big now with a little girl who will rule her father with her little pinky.

Speaking of the proud Papa, there he is, fishing in the lake. Jubilee must be craving fish again. You know, I remember the day the doc gave Jubilee the inhibitor bracelet. The Boss finally smiled that day. I heard later that The Boss wanted them to reproduce. I asked why and was told that they are important to remove a bunch of genetic goofs that have been showing up in the genome. Evidently, in ten generations or so, their genes will be predominate and most of the genetic diseases will disappear. Pretty cool, huh? I get the care and feeding of the parents of the future of the human race.

Gotta go. Logan's about to get balled out and I like to listen in. You're welcome to come if you want.

"I can smell ya, Liese." he called out over the water of Breakstone Lake.

A small green head broke the surface of the water with a loud splash. "Your not 'posed to know I'm here, Unka Wolvie." amber eyes pouted.

"And yer not supposed ta be in the lake without someone with ya," he countered with a smile. She was a cute little imp. Adopted as a newborn by Kurt and Jenny Wagner, she was a green haired, amber eyed, amphibian gifted cutiepie and Logan loved her to pieces. Kurt didn't have the heart to discipline her and Jenny swore the child was going to drive her into an early grave with her antics. Her older brother, Zellig, was the model child, according to Jenny. Logan found him stiff and dour. He spent way too much time with Cyclops. He guessed the early years matter more than anyone thought. Zellig had no memories of his birth mother but he could remember feeling afraid and in danger. Those feelings colored his personality even now, almost seven years later.

"But you're here," she told him with a smile on her lips and flapping her gills to dry them.

"I didn't know ya was in the lake, kid." He picked up his string of fish and waved her out. "C'mon. I'm sure yer parents are lookin' fer ya."

He started walking toward the mansion when an ear piercing shriek nearly drove him to his knees. Without warning, a small, green haired limpet attached herself to his leg and started pulling with all her might. He looked down to find Liese, naked as the day she was born, trying to climb his leg and get to the string of fish slung over his shoulder.

"You killed 'em," she was screaming. Logan could feel blood dripping from his ears as the sound barrage continued.

"Liese, stop," he yelled. "You know Auntie Jubilee craves fish sometimes. I always ask them if they wanna be caught."

"They're dead," she cried.

"Aw, darlin', I always ask first. They all know that Auntie Jubilee is hungry and they want her ta have a big, healthy baby. I never catch one that don't wanna be caught." He knelt down so he could look her in the eye. "Don't cry, punkin'. They're happy ta help yer Auntie have a healthy baby." He pulled out a handkerchief and dried her face.

She finally saw the blood running down his neck from the ruptured ear drums. "I'm sorry Unka Wolvie."

"It's okay, darlin'," he said kissing the top of her head. "I'll heal."

She grabbed the handkerchief from his hand and ran down to the lake to dunk it in the water. Wringing it out as best she could, she ran back and washed the blood from her favorite Uncle's neck. "I love you," she said sweetly.

"I love ya, too," he said, picking her up and settling her on his hip. "But ya know ya ain't supposed ta run around the grounds in yer all together, even if yer just visitin' yer friends in the lake. Where are yer clothes?"

"I took 'em off," she told him proudly.

"I can see that, darlin'."

A sudden 'Bamf' followed by the stench of brimstone heralded the arrival of the child's father, holding the missing garments. Liese let out a soft squeal of pleasure at the site of her soft, blue furred papa. She let go of the short hairy Uncle and leapt into the arms of the soft furry papa. She sighed in contentment as she rubbed her cheek on the downy covered arm. Kurt's tail wrapped around her waist and tickled her ribs gently, making her squirm and giggle.

"I see ya found the trail?" Logan asked.

"All the vay from the front door," he said. "You need to go in. Jubilee has gone into labor."

The string of fish and all the tackle were scattered as Logan ran up to the house, his excitement and worry growing. Jubilee was tiny and the baby, large. The doctor had said that she could probably deliver without any problems but all kinds of awful scenarios kept racing through his brain. Women can die in childbirth. He read about it once. She could need a C-section. His worry started to overcome his excitement as he was entering the mansion.

He reached out and brushed the bond. It was wide open and throbbing with pain. He flashed reassurances down the link. He and Jubilee couldn't use their bond to talk telepathically, but they could communicate using emotional surges. He always knew what she was feeling and she knew what he was feeling. Came in handy when they had a fight. Right now, she was in a great deal of pain and absolutely furious at him. He followed the silver thread to the den.

Jubilee was on the floor, shrieking in pain. He could feel it himself as she shared her pain with him. His belly and thighs burned with a fire he had never felt before. The pain started in his back and wrapped around his to his abdomen, spreading upward and down. As the pain ran down his thighs to his knees, he stumbled and fell beside her, screaming.

"Logan!" Jenny cried.

"I'm okay," he ground out between gasps and moans. "Jubes is sharin' her pain."

Jenny grabbed the laboring woman's shoulders and shook them firmly. "Stop it, Jubilee. You need Logan to help you have this baby."

"He did this to me," she hissed as the contraction eased.

"Like you didn't want it, too," Jenny scoffed. "Let him go so he can be your rock."

"Jubilation, let go of Wolverine," Hank instructed as he entered the den, a blue wrapped bundle in his hand. "You are not going to make it to the hospital and I will need him to help you deliver safely."

The pain in his back and abdomen faded and stopped. He took a deep breath and sat up, shaking.

"Damn, Jubes!" he gasped. "Is that what it feels like? It's a wonder ya ladies _ever_ want ta have a baby. That flamin' hurts!"

"No shit, Sherlock," she hissed.

"She is in transition," Hank informed him. "This is the most painful part of the process. Thankfully, it it also the shortest."

Jean ran in holding a small bucket. "You're going to need this," she told him as she shoved the pail in his hands.

"What fer?" he demanded. Suddenly, the air was filled with the scent of nausea. "Oh, shit." he swore. He got the bucket to her just in time.

Scott dangled a wet washrag over his shoulder, his expression commiserating. "You're both doing fine," he told the nervous father. "It won't be long now."

Logan took the washrag and started wiping Jubilee's face as another contraction rippled across her belly, making her scream in agony.

"I thought these things were supposed ta be two minutes apart." His eyes were filled with concern.

"Transition is different," Scott told him. "They come one on top of another. As soon as she's dilated, the contractions will get less painful and farther apart. Then the fun begins."

"Breathe, darlin'. He, he, he." he breathed with her. "What the hell are ya talkin' about, Cyke?"

"Pushing," he told him. "Jean broke my hand when she had Rachel."

Jean flushed with embarrassment. "I said I was sorry," she protested.

"Get yer hand outta there, bub," Logan growled as Hank examined Jubilee.

"I don't tell you how to gut an enemy, you don't tell me how to deliver a baby," Hank said, unfazed.

"Shut up, Wolvie." Jubilee gasped. "I gotta push!"

"Logan, sit with your back against the couch and hold young Jubilation between your legs," Hank instructed. Hank and Jenny helped Jubilee position herself between her husbands legs. Logan reached down and grabbed her knees, pulling them up and out, spreading her wide to open her pelvis.

"Jubilee, take a cleansing breath and blow out." Jubilee did as she was instructed and blew out. "Take a deep breath and push."

Jubilee took a deep breath, screwed her face up and pushed with everything she had.

"That's it, darlin'," Logan told her. "Yer doin' great."

"Jenny?" Hank called to the only human in the room. "Help me out here. This is going to be fast."

Logan watched in awe as his love brought a new life into the world.

"Index claw," Jenny ordered. He popped the requested claw. Jenny poured a bottle of alcohol over the exposed blade, cleaning and sterilizing it.

"Cut your daughter free from her mother," Jenny told him softly.

He reached down and severed the cord that connected mother and daughter, his heart swelling with love. He watched, tears streaming down his face, as Hank used the tiny turkey baster to suck the fluids out of the baby's throat, making her scream in indignation.

"Look what we did, darlin'," he whispered to Jubilee.

As soon as the placenta was delivered, Hank removed the bracelet that made it all possible and allowed Jubilee's healing factor to remove all traces of the pregnancy from her body. The baby was a healthy 8lb 4oz, 18 inch bundle who looked exactly like her mother.

"It is never anything less than awe inspiring," Hank remarked as Jenny settled the baby in her fathers' arms.

"What's that?" Scott asked, a silly grin on his face.

"The miracle of childbirth," Hank clarified. "Not matter how many times I witness it or how many babies I deliver, I am always awed at the process."

"I'm glad I'll never have to do it." Scott admitted. "I don't think I'd survive the pain."

"There's that, too," Hank agreed. "Weaker sex, indeed."

After a quick lesson in breast feeding from Jean, the X-Men left the new family alone to bond. Logan sat with his arms around his wife as she learned that toothless babies do indeed bite and bite hard and that breast feeding is second only to sex when it comes to pleasure. She watched as her new daughter suckled at her breast, a look of awe and pride on her face.

"What are we going to name her?" she asked

"I like Sumi. It's Japanese for respected." Logan told her, stroking his daughters' cheek with his fingers.

"That's pretty. I like it." she told him. "I want her middle name to be Elizabeth, after your mother."

"Are ya sure, Jubes? She died a long time ago."

"Almost a hundred years ago," she agreed, "but she gave me you. I owe her one."

"Sumi Elizabeth Howlett," Logan tried it out. "Sounds nice."

Logan had a very unfamiliar feeling rising in his chest. It took him several minutes before he could put a name to the feeling and when he did, he nearly cried. It was contentment.

Did you see that? She looked at me. Sumi looked at me! I've been told that babies can see angels but I didn't know they could see advocates. Wow! I feel honored. I'm the first celestial being this child has ever seen. And the only one, at least until her guardian gets here.

Just you wait, Sumi. You have an exciting future ahead of you. You and your brothers and sisters are going to save mankind from the damage they have done to themselves over eons of evolution.

How many brothers and sisters is Sumey going to have you ask? Well, considering that both her parents have healing factors and they have friend with influence in high places, quite a few. This will not be a small family. And because they have to do something, every time, to get pregnant, every child will be wanted and loved.

They were both given a second chance, and considering how bad they were screwing it up before, they needed it. Logan was allowed to visit a life he thought was impossible and chose to take it. In the year that never was, everything that happened was influenced. In the true year, he made his own moves and their marriage is stronger for it. When they found out that the healing didn't take, it was Logan who suggested the grafting procedure. He got into hot water with Jubilee for it because he didn't talk to her first but I kind of expected that. She hadn't trained him yet. Jubilee's second chance was that she got the man she always loved. Odds up here were saying that she would commit suicide on the first anniversary of his death. Seeing them together now, I can believe it.

It ended up well, this pairing. I had my doubts at first. He is so much older than she, but in this case, he needed to be. He has so much more experience in the things a mutant needs to know. He was given the opportunity to mold her as he saw fit and create the mate he needed. He did an outstanding job and if the world needs a pair to save them again, Logan and Jubilee will find themselves reborn and the cycle will start again. I only hope I will be chosen again as their advocate when it happens. It'll be a while, though. They do have healing factors so this life will be very long. I do know one thing. Being who and what they are, I won't be bored.

Fin


End file.
